Hollow Fox
by VFSNAKE
Summary: Grimmjow and Tia died. The Shinigami King intervenes by placing them in Naruto's world to make up for the burden he helped create for Naruto. What will become of this? Read and find out!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-New Life

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the sixth strongest of the Espada in Aizen's elite army of the Arrancars in Las Noches within the realm of Hueco Mundo looked around the dark realm he found himself in, and wondered if this was the place where his kind went when they died? He had just lost to Ichigo in a battle worthy of an Espada, but Grimmjow did not know the meaning of the words "give up", and rose to fight Ichigo once again. However, before that could happen, the prick Nnoritra blindsided him, and sliced him in half before the darkness that was death took him here.

Wherever _here _was anyway.

"Hey! Is there anybody here in this shithole?! If there is and your strong then I want to fight!" said Grimmjow, as he had not intention of being, and doing _nothing_ while the rest of the Universe did its own thing without him.

"Well if this isn't a surprise," said a feminine voice behind Grimmjow and the former Espada turned around to see _her_ standing a few feet away.

Espada # 3 Tia Harribel

"What the Hell?! What are _you_ doing here?" said Grimmjow, as he wondered how an Espada twice his rank was here, and not in Las Noches fighting the other Shinigami.

"I was killed...by Aizen," said Tia, as she told him what Aizen did, and how they were nothing to the man despite the fact they served him loyally.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope Ichigo, and his allies kick the crap out of Aizen when they face off against the prick," said Grimmjow, as he hated Aizen due to the man being a former Shinigami, but had been loyal if only for the most part due to the rogue Shinigami bring him strong unorthodox opponents, and loved fighting them all.

_**"You need not concern yourself with that now former members of the Espada,"**_ said a deep sinister voice with its spiritual pressure suffocating the two Arrancar.

"Who said that?" said Tia, as she drew her sword, and so did Grimmjow.

Only for them to drop when the pressure increased and forced them both to their knees.

_**"I did,"**_ said the demonic and ghostly being hovering above them with a crown of bones on its head.

"Who the Hell are you?" said Grimmjow, as he tried to stand, but didn't have the strength, and saw Tia was doing the same.

_**"Who am I? I am the Shinigami King,"**_ said the ghostly image above them became a tornado of power and changed a regal middle aged man with blood red eyes.

'This is the guy Aizen wants to kill? Ha! Good luck with that you manipulative dick,' thought Grimmjow, as he could tell right away this being made Aizen look like a pansy, and wipe the man out.

_**"Normally, I don't interfere in the affairs of the Human world, the Shinigami World, and even Hueco Mundo though make no mistake with my power I could wipe out all the Hollows there! I see more that goes on in all three worlds, then anyone else from each world, and I have been waiting for just right individuals for a mission that if completed will clear each of your slates clean," **_said the Shinigami King, as he let up on the spiritual pressure, and let the two Arrancar rise.

"What mission?" said Tia, as she was curious about the mission, and from the Shinigami King himself that was saying it was important.

_**"In another place and time in another dimension of the Human World there is a child that was burdened with holding a powerful demon by his own Father. This demon was so powerful that the man, who was called the 'Hokage' of this village that he chose to summon me **__**personally**__** to seal it away, and asked his child to be seen as a hero. The boy was not,"**_ said the Shinigami King, as he showed moments of the boy's life where he was attacked, hated by everyone around, and was shown little kindness with some of the people only betraying the young blonde in the end.

"Shit. Not even that prick Nnoritra would go so far like these idiots," said Grimmjow, as he felt his anger rise within his body, and Tia could easily agree with him on that subject.

_**"Yes. Because of my seal, the boy will be gifted with the power of the Shinigami, and one day have his own zanpakuto. However, because of his years of abuse in the very beginning of his life, the child will also gain a Hollow side, and will one day come out when the time is right. He will one day become what is known as a Vizard. Not unlike the one called Kurosaki Ichigo that you yourself encountered on more then several occasions Grimmjow," **_said the Shinigami King, as he saw the two Arrancar look at him in surprise, and then back at an image of a lonely blue eyed blonde boy wishing to be loved.

"So we go this world, meet the kid, and then train him? Is that mission? "said Grimmjow, as he had an eyebrow raised, and ignored Tia walking towards the blown up image of a depressed Naruto.

_**"No! You will not **__**just**__** train him. You will both **__**raise**__** him as if he were your own,"**_ said the Shinigami King, which made both Arrancars look at him in shock, and then at each other with wide eyes.

"WHAT?! What the Hell are you thinking with that line of thought?" said Grimmjow, as he had nothing against Tia, but he didn't like her like that, and was pretty sure she didn't like him that way either.

"I agree. Why put both of us together for this? Since I am the stronger of the two of us just leave it to me and send this weakling into the abyss," said Tia sharply while her eyes narrowed at Grimmjow.

"Yeah hav-HEY! I am not the weaker one here! You may have been the third strongest of the Espada, but you still got your ass killed, and by the very boss we both served!" said Grimmjow, who would have said more, as would've Tia with her own opinion of him had the Shinigami King once more used his spiritual pressure to shut them up, and force them into submission.

_**"That is enough from BOTH OF YOU! I don't care whether or not the two of you like each other in 'that way', as my **__**only**__** concern is the boy I am placing in your charge, and is suffering as we speak because you two are arguing about BEING A COUPLE! When I brought you here, it was because I **__**knew**__** you two were the best suited for this out of **__**all**__** the other possible candidates I had in stock just **__**itching**__** to do this, and will jump at the chance if I change my mind in sending you both. Something I am right now **__**very**____**tempted**__** to do if you both don't get your egos deflated in the next five micro seconds of life!"**_ said the Shinigami King, as he was not about to have these two get into a fight over such a stupid thing when the boy he brought a burden to was suffering, and needed help.

"All right! All right! I'm in," said Grimmjow flatly though his eyes looked at Naruto's and there was a flash of _something _in them at the sight of the kid.

"Me too. Though we are _not _sharing a bed," said Tia, as she looked at Grimmjow, who just scoffed, and then went back to the image of Naruto before putting she put a hand on the image of the boy's face.

_**"I don't care about that part your housing situation in regards to Naruto. Just make it work for the boy's sake. Maybe in time...the two of you will have a change of heart on the matter," **_said the Shinigami King seeing a blush form on their faces before he called forth a blast of white energy that teleported the two out of his domain.

(Konoha-Nightfall)

"Damn demon! Why won't you die?!" said a village, as he beat up a young eight year old Naruto in an alley area, and the boy would not give into his words.

"I'm not a demon," said Naruto, as he was punched again in the face, and knocked down with his head hitting dirty water.

"Yes you are! You are a freak of nature that doesn't deserve to be here. But don't worry, I'm going to do you a service in sending you back to Hell, and there is no better way for a demon then to set one on _fire_!" said the man, as he threw a bottle of sake' on Naruto, and then drew a match with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

The man was about to drop the match on Naruto when a flash of white light off in the distance caught his attention and the man missed the blonde's movement of hitting the attacker right between the legs. The boy had seen the attack used by a woman with purple hair a few Months back and decided to use it only with his fist instead of the knee since he wasn't tall enough yet.

The man cried out in pain, as he saw Naruto take off running, and snarled at the brat for hurting his family jewels, and limped after the blonde to teach him a lesson.

Naruto made it about two blocks when he tripped and fell on the ground with his attacker right behind him with the intent of trying to set the boy on fire. Even though Naruto had run this far, the man just had to follow the smell of sake' he hit the bleeding boy with, and the struggling moans of pain heard from his soon to be burn victim.

"I'm not a demon. Why won't you believe me?" said Naruto, as he saw the man corner him, and then pull out another match.

"Because you're a demon and demon's are not to be trusted," said the man, but before he could drop the match on the boy, he was struck in the head by a foot, and sent crashing into a wall with the impact causing the man to explode everywhere.

"What an asshole!" said the newcomer, as he looked down at the boy, and then over to the other person looking on in the shadows.

"Who are you?" said Naruto, as he saw the man had what looked like part of a skull the right side of his face, and then at the woman in the shadows looking at him cautiously.

"The names Grimmjow. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," said Grimmjow, as he grinned down at the boy, and was surprised that the kid wasn't afraid of him for what he just did.

If anything, the kid looked grateful, but still cautious since no one clearly helped out the boy out of the goodness of their hearts, and wouldn't do this unless they got something out of it. It made Grimmjow angry that this place with such strange spiritual energy could do this to one of its own and simply treat the kid like a monster. The Espada never did that! Never! Aizen had made it a point to teach them all about loyalty to one another, to not do stupid things like infighting, which would allow the Shinigami to enter their world in order to destroy it, and them for what they had become.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Is the pretty lady with you too?" said Naruto, as he saw Tia look away though a blush did creep up on her face despite it being covered up for the most part, and then looked at Grimmjow currently smirking at the boy.

"Yeah she's with me. Sort of anyway. Her name is Tia Harribel. As for the reason we are here, is to help, and adopt _you_ Naruto," said Grimmjow grinning, but his grin left him when Naruto scowled at him, and began walking away with a hurt look on his face before Tia appeared in front of the boy.

"Why are you walking away Naruto?" said Tia, as she was disturbed by Naruto's actions, and the look of sadness in his eyes.

"Because I know you're messing with me. Before I was kicked out of the Orphanage, I was tricked by several parents, who said they wanted to adopted me, and then not show up while I waited for them all into the night. I swore to myself I wouldn't be fooled by people like that ever again so don't expect me to jump for joy like you want only to take my happiness away," said Naruto, as he looked her dead in the eyes, and saw sadness in the equally blonde spiky haired woman.

'I am so tempted to using a Cero on this place right now and killing all these fuckers for hurting the brat,' thought Grimmjow, as he could practically feel the same thing from Tia, and walked over to the boy to set the record straight.

"I don't know about those other morons that lied to you kid, but were not messing with you, and we really do want to be your..._parents_," said Grimmjow, as he couldn't believe he said the word, and that it involved _him _of all people.

"Really? You're not pulling my leg and just saying that only to laugh at the end at my expense?" said Naruto and was surprised when the woman kneeled down in front of him to look directly into his blue eyes.

"Naruto, I swear to you on my zanpakuto that we are here to adopt you, and we will use all of our powers to make sure that you grow strong under our guidance," said Tia, as she saw the boy tear up with joy, and then tackle her in a hug.

Thank you! Thank you so much! You won't regret this. I promise!" said Naruto, as he cried right on her shoulder, and soon found himself drifting off to sleep in the former female Esapda's arms.

"All right enough of this mushy stuff. First thing we both need to do is eat something, then we need a place to stay, and _then_ we're going to deal with these fuckers that made the boy's life miserable," said Grimmjow, as he found it weird to see Tia holding a child in her arms so gently, and close to her body since the woman had always kept a personal barrier that _no one_ was supposed to cross.

"Agreed. I saw a small stand not that far our location when we first came here. I'm sure we could acquire something there provided we only _threaten_ the owner to not charge us," said Tia, as they didn't have any money on hand, and knew little of the currency needed for it in this place.

"I know the place from the kid's memories. They're one of the few people here that treat him right despite everyone else doing the exact opposite," said Grimmjow, as he along with Tia moved swiftly from the area, and headed to the small ramen stand.

Seconds later, a ANBU squad appeared seeing the mess made on the wall, and felt the strange chakra that was still emanating from the area.

"What do you think? Is it the Kyuubi vessel? Did the fox take over and kill this..._person _on this wall?" said the ANBU Captain to the Inuzuka of the team and his canine sniffing the ground.

"Its hard to tell. The boy _was _here moments ago. Of that I have no doubt, _but_...," said the Inuzuka shaking his head while his canine companion went into a whimper and shook in fear.

"But what?" said the ANBU Captain frowning at his subordinate.

"There are _two other_ things here. They were powerful and I think one of them did _this_. Not the Kyuubi vessel," said the Inuzuka fearfully at his ANBU Captain.

"The demon has summoned reinforcements! We must quickly inform the Councils and the Hokage himself before more of them come to secretly kill us all!" said another ANBU fearfully.

"Calm down Hawk. You don't know that. None of us do. If anything, these two powerful beings may have seen what many of have already have with the brat, and decided to help the kid for once. Spread out! I'll inform the Hokage while the rest of you search for the brat. If you do find him, but with strange looking people, then don't engage just yet, and send out a pulse of chakra before waiting for the Hokage to show up," said the ANBU Captain, as he saw them nod, and spread out to find the boy.

They could only hope the boy was nearby.

(Ichiraku Ramen Stand)

"So you two are going to adopt Naruto? You're not just fooling with him? Because if you are...," said the Teuchi, but was silenced by Grimmjow glaring at him with his blue eyes while eating, and Tia was holding the sleeping boy in her arms while contemplating how to eat her meal.

"First off old man, I don't like to be threatened by weak people, and if it weren't for the simple fact your food was so damn good along with being kind to the brat I would kill you right now. Second, I want information about this place, and I think you know what kind I'm talking about here," said Grimmjow, as he saw the old man look at his daughter Ayame in the back helping with the making of the ramen.

"Ayame dear, I think its time you went home, and called it a night," said Teuchi, as he saw his daughter pout, and look at him with depressing eyes.

"But I have so much to learn Dad! I've finally got your Beef Ramen Special down to the point where people will like it," said Ayame, as she had made the batch the two strangers were eating now, and the guy with the strange quarter mask with teeth was eating it up like there was no tomorrow.

The lady beside him wasn't so enthusiastic in eating, but Ayame thought the woman was distracted by the sleeping form of Naruto, and the fact people were glaring at the youth in her arms.

"You can try mastering it tomorrow. You know that is when our busiest day of the week starts and it will be the perfect time to test your own version on the village populous," said Teuchi, as he saw his daughter sulk a little, but nodded in understanding, and began preparing for the quick walk home.

"So she doesn't know about the kid holding it I take it?" said Grimmjow, as he saw the man nod his head, and let out a sigh before rubbing his forehead.

"No. At least I hope not anyway. There _is _a law in place that forbids people mentioning the connection to the younger generation, but I'd bet this ramen stand that the parents have been secretly breaking it, and poisoning their children's' minds," said Teuchi, as he had tried to keep his daughter from being poisoned by the villagers, and their arrogance regarding Naruto.

"Does anyone enforce this law?" said Grimmjow, as he knew that even Las Noches had laws, and they were strictly enforced regardless of how strongly some of the Arrancar opposed it.

"Barely. Doesn't stop them from trying to hurt the poor kid. I actually caught one of the Shinobi in charge of watching Naruto one day looking the other way when a group of bastards started to attack him. I basically yelled at the man to do something and he says 'Why should I?' before taking off," said Teuchi, as he had gone to the Hokage, and named names of the people attacking Naruto before the Sandaime decided to intervene himself.

'Shinobi? From what I've seen around this place, it reminds of the Shinigami from the 2nd Division, and do quick kills using speed combined with stealth,' thought Tia, as she saw the boy stir, and then awaken before turning to the sight of slowly cooling ramen.

"Ramen! Is this for me Mom?" said Naruto, as he saw Tia stiffen at the name, and then he shook in fear of being thrown away from her for saying the word.

As for Tia herself, she had never been called that before, but the way Naruto said it was that of affection, and love that comes from a parent bonding with a child. Smiling behind her shirt, she turned Naruto fully on her lap to face the stand counter, and made sure he was as close to the ramen bowl as possible.

"Yes Naruto-kun. It's all for you. Dig in son," said Tia, as she saw Grimmjow look at her in surprise, and Teuchi smile at the two since he could see how overjoyed Naruto was at this simplest act of affection.

And dig into the ramen bowl the boy did. Within _seconds_, the bowl was empty, and Naruto let out a content sigh before thanking the woman with another love tackle of a hug.

"Hey Tia. Why don't you take the gaki home? I will get you something for later when he's asleep," said Grimmjow, as he didn't know _where _that came from within his head, or _why _he even said that to Tia except that it felt...right.

Damn! This kid better not make him soft.

"Okay. Come on Naruto-kun. Show me to your home for us to stay the night and then tomorrow we'll speak to your Hokage...was it?" said Tia, as she found the title to be a bit weird, but powerful sounding nonetheless, and then looked at Naruto looking happy at the news.

Though at the same time she sensed fear from the child.

"Okay. Though I have to warn you, my apartment isn't exactly pleasant to look at, and the landlord is a jerk to me all the time," said Naruto, as he hated the old bitch, and the boy wished he could do something about it.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," said Tia, as she put the child on her shoulder, and the two left with Naruto pointing her the best way to his home without getting hurt by people.

Tia made a special mental note to visit said people in the near future and show them her own personal definition of just what _physical pain _was when it came to the mind of an Arrancar!

"Okay, they're gone. Now tell me about the people here, and who I should be looking at in case someone tries to hurt Naruto again. Don't get me wrong, I can easily sense when someone will have ill intentions against the gaki, but I'd prefer to know ahead of time, and make sure the boy knows who he should be cautious about," said Grimmjow, as he saw the man nod, and motioned him forward so they could talk in a lower volume.

"A vast majority of the village is against the boy. Mainly the Uchiha Clan, who from my understanding have been trying to get the Hokage to order Naruto's execution since day one, and then you have the Civilian Council that handles the basics civilian affairs. After the Yondaime died sealing the Kyuubi, they moved in to take more power then they really should. At least, I personally think they've taken too much of it anyway, and are split down the middle between death or turning Naruto into a mindless weapon. The Clan Heads, who all represent their individual clan here in the Leaf are for the most part still in favor of the boy, but not all the members of their respected clans feel the same way, and have tried to hurt the boy by using it to get closer to the kid before attacking. The Hyuuga Clan, which is one of _the_ most powerful if not influential clan among them, is still on the fence, but I suspect that the Clan Head wishes to support the boy after how the poor gaki helped save his daughter from being kidnapped by an Ambassador from another village during a peace treaty signing several years ago, and would do so if it weren't for the fact the Elders in that clan are being a pain right now," said Teuchi, as he let out another sigh, and saw Grimmjow looking pissed off at this information.

"So Naruto does something noble and they _still_ treat him like he was crap afterwards," said Grimmjow, as he devoured the rest of his ramen angrily, and chugged down the broth before putting the bowl down.

"There's more. The Shinobi Council has been among those wishing the boy to be turned into a weapon and there is a man behind them wishing for the same thing. His name is Danzo. He was part of an organization with the Leaf called Root, which has secretly been supporting the Hokage from the shadows since its founding, but it was disbanded by the Yondaime after the last Shinobi war, and Danzo seeks to turn Naruto into something that would be monstrous for his own goals. Even though Root is disbanded, he keeps them around using the excuse of having them as a 'Private Security Force', and other loopholes to make sure the Sandaime can't do anything to reintegrate them back into normal Leaf Shinobi. The guy is known for being a war hawk among his peers and wishes to rule over everything with what won't submit being destroyed," said Teuchi, as he had been in this village all his life, playing the act of a simple ramen stand own, and listened to everything people said while pretending not to hear anything at all.

Something the Yondaime taught him when they were teammates before early retirement since being a Shinobi wasn't Teuchi's thing, but stayed until they all graduated to the rank of Chuunin, and took retirement from being a Shinobi after five years of service during the last war.

'So many people to hurt so little time,' thought Grimmjow, as he let out a growl, and his zanpakuto was surprisingly doing the same too.

"Also, I...I don't know if I should be saying this, but...but I think you should also be very cautious of the Sandaime too, and anything he may say to persuade you from adopting Naruto," said Teuchi, as he saw Grimmjow now frown at this news, and clearly wanted an explanation.

"I thought this Hokage was on Naruto's side? Are you saying that they're signs of the man isn't the noble man people think him to be?" said Grimmjow, as he saw Teuchi becoming more nervous, and wondered if there was something the ramen stand owner was afraid to say out of fear of being attacked by someone wanting to keep said information buried.

"As I said, I'm not sure if the Sandaime is actually supporting Naruto, or if he's only just doing it to manipulate the boy into staying loyal to the Leaf. However, I know for a fact that you are not the first to try adopting Naruto, and actually mean it unlike the rest of the bakas here in the village," said Teuchi seeing Grimmjow's eyes widen and then narrow dangerously.

"Who else tried to adopt Naruto?" said Grimmjow with his full focus on this Teuchi for this information.

"Me. I tried when the boy was four years old. I got all the paperwork done and presented it to the Hokage himself before telling him I would like to adopt Naruto. That I would raise him, loved him, call him son, and treat him like a human being. The first thing the Hokage tried to do when he heard this was telling me to _reconsider_ my choice in the child I wanted to adopt and that there were _other_ more _safer _children in the Orphanage that I should consider adopting. I told the old man that I wanted to adopt Naruto and no other. Period! I told him that boy is suffocating in that place and he needs to take several breaths outside of it or else the child will never trust anyone around him. The Sandaime just looked at me with a blank stare, as if he was telling me that he knew, but he just did not _care_, and told me _again_ that I should choose a kid that wasn't such a 'sensitive case'. I told him, I _knew_ about the Kyuubi, and I didn't think the fox was the boy, and wanted to adopt Naruto regardless of everything else. That was when I finally suspected the man was not fully protecting Naruto and had his own agenda," said Teuchi with his face going pale at the memory.

"You have guts to stand up to the guy, I'll give you that, but I also know you wouldn't be the kind of guy to back down from something like that unless something happened, and was given a clear sign to back off from adopting him," said Grimmjow, as he knew that even some weaklings have a spine, and will use it when fighting for something that they believe in.

"Correct. I had no intention backing down from this, but the Sandaime then mentioned my daughter, and it made my heart nearly stop. You see, my wife had give birth to my sweet girl Ayame a few years prior to the Kyuubi's attack on the Leaf, and then died of a heart attack a few years later from stress that came from giving birth. The Hokage told me that if I didn't stop what I planned to do, he would see to it that my daughter became an orphan just like Naruto, and that she got adopted into a clan to become its maid...for life! " said Teuchi, as he shivered at the thought since the only clans he could think of that would treat his daughter like crap were Uchiha Clan, and to a slightly lesser extent the Hyuuga Clan with a modified Cage Bird Seal.

"So this old bastard of a Hokage is also against Naruto while manipulating him to stay loyal for his own reasons. Sounds like some guys I use to know," said Grimmjow, as the old man reminded him of Aizen, and even Gin to a certain extent.

"I suspect he's up to _something_! Though what it is I don't know. All I do know is that he's not looking after Naruto's best interest. Otherwise, he wouldn't have announced the boy had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him for the whole village to hear, and do more in trying to protect Naruto from harm," said Teuchi, as he had to think about his current family, and couldn't adopt Naruto knowing that something bad would happen if he did before the ink was dry on the adoption papers.

"Well that's going change or my name isn't Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez!" said Grimmjow, as he now had to deal with paying the man for the food, and realized he had no currency to do it.

"Don't worry about paying me for the food. It's on the house. You taking care of that boy is more then enough payment for me in my book," said Teuchi, as he had given Naruto a few free bowls in the past, and helped when he could to fill the young kid's stomach.

"You're all right old man. See you around," said Grimmjow, as he got a few feet from the stand when an elderly man in full battle armor, and helmet appeared with a small army of masked Shinobi ready for a fight.

"Who are you? Where is Naruto?" said the elderly man, who was the Sandaime, and saw the former Espada turn to look at him with those dangerous blue eyes that reminded the Hokage of a predatory animal.

"Who wants to know? Are you by chance that so called Sandaime Hokage of this village I've heard so much about?" said Grimmjow, as he saw the Shinobi around the man tense, and the Hokage in question take a few steps forward.

"I am. Now I'll ask you again and I expect an answer. Where is the boy?" said the Hokage with more edge in his voice and what he got from Grimmjow was a grin.

A grin that turned into a laugh that echoed throughout the village in the dead of night.

"Oh this is too much! I was actually hoping to run into you earlier tonight, but I decided against hunting you down until tomorrow morning, and talking about adopting Naruto," said Grimmjow, as he saw the Shinobi around the Hokage stiffen, and so the did the Hokage himself.

"You wish to..._adopt_ Naruto? Why? Who are you?" said the Hokage, as he heard some of his ANBU were whispering "demon lover", and "Kyuubi worshipper" along with some others that the carried over to the former Espada's ears.

"Of course I want to adopt the gaki! The only question I have for _you_ ya old fart is why the Hell not?!" said Grimmjow, as he saw the Sandaime looking nervous now, and knew that the old man wouldn't _dare _break his own law even if the people did so themselves.

"You will talk to Hokage-sama with respect!" said an ANBU with gravity defying silver hair.

"Respect? Why would I show him respect? Tell you what old man, I'm tired right now, my friend is currently taking Naruto home, and I'm going to join her. We're going to talk to you about this in the morning when we've all had our sleep and depending on what we hear will decide the future of this place along with all its inhabitants," said Grimmjow, as he vanished from the Hokage's sight, and made everyone nervous.

"Hokage-sama, what do we do?" said the ANBU, as he saw the Hokage let out a tired sigh, and turned to look at them.

"Nothing for now. We will deal with them tomorrow. There is no lying in that man when he said we would speak to me in the morning. Keep an eye on Naruto's apartment, but make no move against the boy, or these two strangers unless they do something that may harm the boy. Understood?" said the Sandaime, as he saw them nod, and then departed quickly from his sight.

(Naruto's Apartment)

Tia frowned at the sight of Naruto's home and had to bite back the growl that wanted to escape her throat knowing that the boy may misinterpret at being disappointed with him. The apartment Naruto lived in was crappy to say the least, as there was a thick line of weird mold in one corner of a room, a splintered table in the kitchen barely supporting anything placed on it, the fridge where food was kept looked rust in over a third of it outer design, and the smell coming from it made the former Espada want to vomit. She was actually glad that her stomach was empty right now because if it were filled with ramen, then it would soon be empty again, and her contents would be on Naruto's floor.

The bedroom was no different. An open closet filled with little to no clothing, a patched up window that had been broken several times by the bed, and the bed _itself_ was just a simple mattress on the ground with shitty patchwork that barely kept some of the springs in place.

"I'm sorry it not much, but its not easy keeping this place clean given how little I have, and what people will throw out to replace with something new," said Naruto, as he had taken what people threw out, and scavenged through what materials he could for his own home.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun. Soon this will all be just a bad memory," said Tia, as she was finding it difficult to keep her anger in check, and found the only thing _remotely_ worth sitting in much less sleeping on was the couch.

"Thanks Mom! Um... I can call you Mom, right?" said Naruto, as he was a bit unsure about it since the woman was tense when he first called her that, and didn't know how else to address former Espada.

"Of course you can...son," said Tia, as she saw him smile a true smile instead of the fake one he had been using the whole time, and made the former Espada's heart ache knowing this kid had suffered so much in such a short time due to the pathetic humans in this small village.

Once again Naruto hugged the Arrancar woman again, only tighter this time, as if he _still _feared this was fake, or some kind of dream that he would wake up from to find himself in this Hell these people placed on him. Even now, Tia heard Naruto whispering for her to not leave him, let this not be a dream, and if it was that he never wake up from it no matter what.

There was a knock on his apartment door, which ended the moment, and for a second Naruto's entire body stood ridged from bad memories. People had clearly deceived him with gentle knocking instead of kicking down the door to come after the poor boy.

"Who's there?" said Naruto, as he wasn't going to let anyone in unless it was his soon to be adopted parents, and only then if it was _really _them.

"Its me gaki! Your future old man Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez!" said Grimmjow, as he was waiting outside for the kid to open up the door, or Tia for that matter since kicking it down would no doubt bring back bad memories for Naruto.

"Its him Naruto. I can sense his spiritual energy," said Tia, as she walked with the boy to the door, and opened it to reveal Grimmjow in all his former Espada greatness.

"You were right Mom! Um...what is spiritual pressure? Is it like chakra?" said Naruto, as he had heard the word before, and been in the boring classes that held it.

"Chakra? What the Hell is that?! Never mind, I don't want to know right now, and is not important to know until later on," said Grimmjow before he waved his hand like he was swatting the question away.

"There is more to be concerned about then that," said Tia, as she moved away from the door to show Grimmjow the state of the boy's home, and the smell somehow flooding his senses causing his face to go green before he managed to force the growing vomit back down his throat.

"Holy shit! It smells horrible in here. Okay! That's it! We are _not _living in this piece of crap place. Sorry kid, but you know its true, and it needs to be done," said Grimmjow, as he saw Naruto look down sadly, and once more the former Espada found his heart aching at the sight of this kid's sadness.

"I know. Its just...I have no other place to go and the old man said it was the only place he could get at such a low price," said Naruto, as he heard the man growl angrily, and feared it was aimed at him.

"Grimmjow! You're scaring Naruto. He thinks you're anger is aimed at him," said Tia, as she knelt down, and hugged the boy while glaring at the former Espada with "be careful when your angry you baka" look while soothing the troubled blonde.

"What? I'm not angry at the kid. I'm angry at that old bastard of a Hokage for leaving the kid in this state of a mess and doing so little about it!" said Grimmjow, as he looked at Naruto, and saw the sadness in the boy's eyes that had experienced years of anger at the hands of others blaming him for things that didn't even happen when he was around.

"So where are we all going to sleep?" said Naruto, as he saw his future parents look at each other in thought, and then looked back at the boy.

"Naruto-kun, are all the rooms on this floor empty?" said Tia, as she knew that the boy must have explored the other apartments in this building, and use them to hide from his enemies.

"Most of them. I use the air vents to sneak around to the other rooms during the winter since mine has little heating, but the landlord has all the keys, and checks the rooms every so often to make sure I don't get in them," said Naruto, as he had nearly been caught on a few occasions, but the landlord couldn't prove it, and would only cause problems in the long run with the Hokage.

At least that was what Naruto thought.

"Well, I think its time I had a chat with the landlord about the use of one of the rooms here, and have the three of us stay in one of the good apartment areas for the night," said Grimmjow, as he was about to leave when Tia put a hand on his shoulder, and shook her head no.

"Let me. This will give you time to bond with your future son," said Tia, as she walked out of the room, and Naruto told her it was the fourth door on the right at the end of the hallway.

'Joy,' thought Grimmjow sarcastically in his mind, as he looked at Naruto, and wondered what he could do with the kid to "bond" with him.

As for Tia, she was walking silently towards the old woman watching over this place, and making sure Naruto's life was miserable just to appease the old bat's arrogance. Tia may have been new to being a parents, whether by that of blood, or in this case of adopting the boy she found herself cherishing. However, Tia knew that what she was feeling was what a Mother would feel for their child, and was going to show this pathetic old bitch of the human race what it means to invoke the wrath of a Mother.

Especially, if that Mother is the former member of the Espada, and the third strongest of their ranks!

Knocking on the old woman's door hard, Tia heard the bitch complain about being visited in the middle of the night, and hoping it was Naruto so she could beat him with her ivory cane. This made Tia narrow her eyes at the door with balled up fists and red energy for a Bala in each hand though she held it back with great difficulty in order to speak to the old hag first. _Then_, when Tia heard enough, she would blast this bitch into oblivion, and take what was needed without regret.

"What do you want miserable little demo-oh! I'm sorry dear. I thought you were one of my more _disruptive_ tenants," said the old landlord of a woman, as she switched from her "angry at Naruto" face, and put on her "welcome to my apartment complex I hope you have lots of money" kind of face.

"I see. As for one of your disruptive tenants, would that just so happened to be a blonde boy, and goes by the name of Uzumaki Naruto?" said Tia, who got the results she wanted with the old hag becoming angry at the mention of the boy, and look like she wanted to spit on the ground just to get the means to speak the kid's name _properly_.

"That's _him_. What did that monster do now?" said the old woman, as she had used all of her power to tax the boy, and kick him out of her apartment.

"Nothing. Though I'm sure that cannot be said the same for you," said Tia, as saw the woman snarl at her, and try to close the door before the former Espada stopped it with just the tip of her fingernail.

"Anything I've done to the boy is strictly legal. If the boy doesn't like it, he can leave this place, and never come back!" said the old woman, as she was in no mood to speak to a "demon lover", and would have tried to shut her door again had Tia not used her spiritual pressure to freeze the old bitch in her tracks.

"I doubt it. You along with the rest of this village have hurt Naruto for the last time. Its almost a pity you won't live to see Naruto become what he should have been from the start. Almost," said Tia, as she slugged the old woman in the chest, which upon impact had blasted the old bitch to piece, and scattered her old body parts throughout the room.

Now it was time to give Naruto a new and much _better _place to sleep for the night.

(Hokage's Office-The Next Day)

The Sandaime sighed, as he was not looking forward to this day, and was regretting it with every fiber of his being. The ANBU had felt high concentration of strange energy coming from the slightly rundown apartment complex Naruto was in and sent them to investigate while the trio were here in his office. Hopefully, they would be able to get some answers, and figure out just what was going on?!

"You can't bring that _thing_ in there!" said the secretary outside and then the Sandaime heard a scream before metal was slicing through flesh before the door was kicked open in the span of three seconds.

"Anyone _else_ in this building or you have in this village that wants to die at my hands?" said Grimmjow, as he had his hands in his pockets, and saw the Sandaime looking at him with old eyes.

"Please don't do that to anyone else while here," said the Sandaime though the grin he saw on Grimmjow's face told him it fell on deaf ears.

"That depends. Are you going to tell us why Naruto is hated? Are you going to explain to me why you're secretly sabotaging my future son's life with all this hatred for something that's not his fault?" said Grimmjow, as he saw the Sandaime scowl at him, and then look behind the former Espada to see Naruto was not with him nor was the man's partner in this.

"Where is Naruto?" said the Sandaime, as he was not about to let this man take Naruto away from the Leaf, and what he wished to accomplish with the boy.

"He's safe. In fact, Naruto is safer now then he would be in his shithole of an apartment _you_ stuck him with, and I half a mind right now to use my powers to give this village of yours a new asshole! Now stop stalling and tell me what I want to know or I will do just that!" said Grimmjow, as he brought his spiritual pressure down on the Hokage, and saw the man hold onto his desk for dear life while looking up at the former Espada.

"You're not a normal person...are you," said the Sandaime, as he saw Grimmjow smile again, and raised his with his palm with red energy now forming around it staring the old Kage right in the face.

"Let me put to you this way. You either tell me what I want to know...or I kill you with this attack. Then I use it on your family, your friends, _there_ family, and so on and so forth until I get an answer to all my questions," said Grimmjow, as he saw the old man nod his head, and silently submitted to the Arrancar before him.

In an instant the attack and the pressure were gone.

"All right. Naruto is hated for the Kyuubi sealed inside of him. A law was created to ban people from speaking of it and its connection to Naruto," said the Sandaime, which got him a scoff from Grimmjow, and having the Arrancar look at him extremely pissed off.

"Yeah a lot good _that_ did. They still call him 'demon', 'monster', and a whole lot of shit that you don't punish them for. Its still the same thing as calling him Kyuubi! Hell, I was the one who saved the kid last night from being set on fire, and from the looks of things this isn't a one time deal with these damn villagers of yours," said Grimmjow, as he saw the old Kage wince, and shrink away like a frail old man.

Because he was a frail old man right now in comparison to Grimmjow.

"I do what I can for him, but my hands are tied, and I...," said the Sandaime, as he was silenced by Grimmjow's spiritual pressure once more, and looking into the eyes of a very angry Arrancar.

"Don't feed me bullshit old man. I _know_ you've stopped people from adopting Naruto and meaning well. I _know_ you don't care about Naruto like you claim you do to me. You try to lie to me again old man, I guarantee you that this village will not live through today, and we will take Naruto from here for a better life," said Grimmjow, as he saw the old Kage struggling to breath, and took the spiritual pressure away so the old Sandaime could breathe again.

"I did that to protect Naruto. No one in this village can protect Naruto because they all hate him and his Godparents are not here to watch over him like they were suppose to," said the Sandaime seeing Grimmjow narrow his blue eyes at him.

"So the kid had Godparent and yet they aren't here? Why?" said Grimmjow, as he saw the Sandaime flinch, and knew that the old Kage said something he wasn't supposed to.

"Because they have their Shinobi duties an-AH!" said the Sandaime, as he found his desk thrown out the window, and pinned to the wall by an angry Grimmjow.

"You're lying. I warned you about lying to me, but I guess you didn't believe what I said since any abuse I do to you would be frowned on by Naruto. Well, I highly doubt he'll hate me for roughing you up when I tell him the truth about _everything_ you've kept from him, and I...mean..._everything_!" said Grimmjow before whispering what he knew about Naruto's lineage, as he saw the Sandaime's panicked look on face, and grinned at getting the old man's attention.

"Who told you?" said the Sandaime fearfully at Grimmjow.

"Let's just say there is someone higher up in the food chain then even _me_ in this life who cares about Naruto to the point of having a someone of my..._caliber_ watch over the kid since its clear you're incapable of doing it yourself," said Grimmjow, as he was not about to reveal the Shinigami King had brought him here instead of letting him die, and rot in the darkness that should have been his misery.

"I have done everything I could for Naruto given the situ-AH!" said the Sandaime, as he was slammed hard against the wall by Grimmjow, and it was clear the Arrancar's limited patience was thinning out dangerously before him.

"You did the bare minimum! Well that stops here and now. You are going call those two so called Godparents of his back here and they are going to accept their responsibilities to Naruto..._or else_!" said Grimmjow, as he had no problem adopting Naruto, but he had a problem with those charged with that responsibility taking off, and slacking on the job.

"I can't! The boy's Godfather is elusive due to maintaining his spy network for the village and his Godmother swore never to come back here due to the painful memories of losing loved ones from the last war. Even if I could tell them something, they will not act on it, and will not comeback to Konoha," said the Sandaime, as he saw Grimmjow grin at him wickedly, and was soon face to face with the former Espada.

"Oh I think they will. You see, I've been looking at that seal on the boy's body last night while he slept like a rock in my female companions arms, and while I may not understand the seal in general...what I _did _ see was _another_ seal on him that wasn't apart of what his old man did," said Grimmjow, as he along with Tia had seen Naruto's seal while the boy was asleep in the female Arrancar's arms, and saw the extra one due to their spirit energy revealing it to them.

"I don't know anything about an extra seal on Naruto," said the Sandaime, but was given another hard slam to the wall, and felt blood leak out of the side of his mouth.

"Lie to me again and I'll break your body until you tell me everything. The seal is faint to see by normal eyes, but it is there, and it seems to have some kind connection around his heart. Now before I came here to see you, I asked about the Yondaime, and the name of his teacher who also just so happens to be Jiraiya of the Sannin. From my understanding, he is the only _living_ Seal Master this village has left with his only student in that field being killed when sealing the fox up in Naruto, and we both know that someone doesn't have to be a genius to put things like that together since the seal on the kid's heart looks pretty complex. Something _only_ a high grade Seal Master could do. What is that seal's purpose around his heart?" said Grimmjow, as he saw the Sandaime look away from him, and in response the former Espada slammed the Hokage against the wall four more times with the sound of bones in his old body break like toothpicks.

"All right! All right! I'll tell you. It's a special dead man's switch Jiraiya put on Naruto in the event the boy is possessed by the Kyuubi and needs to be terminated by using a hand sign only I know aside from the Seal Master himself. When the seal activates, it strikes the heart like a bomb, and causes it to explode from the inside out to quickly kill the boy's body along with the Kyuubi itself," said the Sandaime, as he had been told of it by Jiraiya after the sealing was done, and told the Councils about it to spare Naruto an execution that several people demanded from the start.

"I highly doubt the boy's Father would approve of such an action if he was alive and even less on his treatment due to his dying wish for his only child to be seen as a hero of your miserable human race," said Grimmjow, as this news was pissing him off, and didn't like the idea of this old man having that kind of power over his future adopted son.

"Its only temporary. That's what Jiraiya told me. When the boy is old enough, the seal will vanish, and he will be none the wiser of it," said the Sandaime, as he saw Grimmjow snarl at him, and slam the old Kage's body into the wall again.

"Oh, I bet it would vanish. Right after the boy's mind, body, and spirit were forced into submission by you with the help of all the cowards in this place wanting to get their licks in before such an thing happens. So here is what you're going to do. You're going to send those two a message. You tell them that Naruto has had an 'incident' with the fox's power, but is now stable again, and you would like the two of them to come back in order to give the kid a checkup. Tell Jiraiya that the extra seal didn't work and you fear the Kyuubi may have found a way to neutralize it so you need him here to inspect it again. As for the other one, tell the woman it is _extremely_ important she comes back, and that her Godson needs his Godmother..._now_!" said Grimmjow, as he saw the old Kage weakly nodding his head, and the Arrancar let the Hokage go with the injured man landing on his now sore ass to think about everything that's happened in such a short time.

"Who are you? _What_ are you?" said the Sandaime, as he saw Grimmjow now leaving his office, and stop at the door to look back at him.

"My name is Grimmjow. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. And as for your question to just _what_ I am? What I am you old fool, is Naruto's _Father_, and it would be in your best interest to not forget that," said Grimmjow, as he left the room with a grin on his face, and was now laughing the whole time.

It was laughter to Grimmjow, but to the Sandaime it was the sound of doom for the Leaf, and anyone else involved in the conspiracy against one Uzumaki Naruto.

(A/N: YAY! I wrote another fic. For those of you thinking "WTF!" I'm sorry for writing another story that will also take up more of my time, but I couldn't resist writing this due to my small writer's block on my other fics, and needed rest from them while letting other ideas come out to alleviate mental stress. Trust me I needed to let this be written. Hope you all liked this. Until next time...PEACE!!!)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-The Changing of the Guard

Tia Harribel watched her adopted son with sharp eyes in the park while the boy was on the "swings", as he told her what they were, and how they were fun to be on. The former Espada wasn't sure about that, but then again Naruto was only boy, and had yet to learn his new powers along with being taught some of the more interesting things that they could be used to make one's life easier.

Tia noticed some of the parents watching their kids before _they_ noticed Naruto was on the swings and were now glaring at him. Naruto of course seemed oblivious to all of this due to the fact his adopted Mother was here and fully believed that she would stop any harm from befalling his person until he was capable of defending himself.

'Is this what it means to be a Mother?' thought Tia, as she saw a man now walking over to Naruto, and drew a knife from his pocket.

She moved behind the man using Sonido and grabbed bastard by the neck before lifting his body off the ground. The man tried to get free, but found himself unable to when a hand went through his back, and was then thrown away to the side while the other parents watched the scene in horror. Tia _could_ have killed her son's would-be assassin for trying to attack Naruto, but that would have been too merciful in her green eyes, and felt a more effective example needed to be made on those with the intention of hurting the boy.

Upon looking at Naruto, the boy was awed by her mastery of speed, and strength used to protect him from harm. She could tell that Naruto wanted to learn how to do that, if he could do it at all, and hoped to one day learn from her if not from Grimmjow. She smiled at that, but the problem with teaching Naruto wasn't in the boy's inability to not do what she, or Grimmjow could do for that matter. The problem was that dormant Dead Man Switch on Naruto's heart, as it brought out her instincts in telling her that if activated, it would kill the boy, and she would be unable to stop it.

The very thought of Naruto dying filled her with a sense of anger she had not felt since her Fraccion died in battle at the hands of the Shinigami Captain-General if not more! At least her Fraccion died in battle while Naruto would die in a cowardly act by the hands of foolish arrogant humans.

If that ever happened to Naruto...the former Espada didn't know what she would do, but what Tia did know was it would be violent, and there would be countless deaths at her hands.

"E-Excuse me," said a whispery voice, which got the female Arrancar's attention if just barely due to the quietness of the voice, and looked down to see a shaking pale skinned girl with white eyes looking back at her.

"Yes," said Tia, as she kept her voice civil, but sharp all the same, and looked at the girl fidgeting in her presence.

"C-Could I please s-sit on t-the swing next to N-Naruto-kun please?" said the girl, as she saw what the woman did to the man attempting to hurt Naruto, and saw this as her chance to be next to the boy.

"You may _provided _I have your name first," said Tia, as she saw the girl nod again to her before bowing her head in respect, and tried to not to tremble so much.

"M-My name is H-Hyuuga Hinata and I-I am the H-Heiress to the Hyuuga C-Clan," said Hinata seeing the blonde woman nod her head slightly.

"My name is Tia Harribel. I am Naruto's new Mother," said Tia, as she saw the girl look at her in awe at her new title in connection to Naruto, and then bowed again before she rushed over to the swings to sit next to the blonde boy.

The former Espada watched with interest, as Naruto talked with Hyuuga Hinata like they had been friends for years, and seemed to trust the girl not to backstab him like so many others had. She would ask Naruto about it later since it was clear the two had some kind of history, but now was not the time to pry into it, and decided to watch the two have fun.

"Hey! Get away from the Hyuuga Heiress you demon!" said the Branch Family member assigned to watching Hinata and activated his Byakugan before trying to attack the boy with his Gentle Fist.

Tia was going to interfere when Hinata of all people stepped in the man's path and glared at the Branch member trying to hurt Naruto. The Branch member while hating Naruto for what he held, could not willfully endanger the Hyuuga Heiress without the risk of facing the girl's Father, who was also the Clan Head, and the pain of the Cage Bird Switch being used. So the man had to leap away at the last possible moment before his strike and look at the Hyuuga Heiress with surprise while those around her did the same.

"Leave him alone!" said Hinata, as she saw the Branch member look at her in disbelief, and then at the shocked boy behind her.

"Hinata-sama, you don't understand! This boy is not who you think he is. He's a demon underneath that human skin and will kill you when your guard is down," said the Branch member, as he wanted to say more, but the Sandaime's law forbid it, and knew that the girl would tell her Father that he broke it.

"No he's not! Its because of Naruto-kun that I am even in the Leaf instead of Kumo," said Hinata, as she knew it was thanks to Naruto, and his skills with pranks that caused the Ambassador to slip up in his kidnapping that allowed her Father to kill the man.

Hinata maybe shy around the boy, if not most people after what happened five years ago, but when someone tried to attack Naruto for whatever reason, a fire inside of her body seemed to explode, and command the young Heiress to stand up to everyone around her trying to hurt the blonde. It was like a whisper, turned yell when it told Hinata to stand up to others, and the yell so far had only happened when people were trying to hurt Naruto.

"And he is also the reason your Uncle is not here right now!" said the Branch member, as Hyuuga Hizashi had died for the sake of the Main family so his twin brother could not, and created a rift in the clan itself.

"You can't blame him for that!" said Hinata, as she saw the Branch member snarl in rage, and charge again with the consequences behind his actions be damned.

He was about to hit his intended _targets_ when a kick to the Hyuuga's face sent the Branch member flying into a nearby tree that shattered upon impact. However, the kick itself did not come from Tia, and it certainly didn't come from Hinata herself.

It came from Naruto leaping from the swing and kicking the man with all his might.

"No one attempts to hit Hinata-chan for whatever reason and gets away with it!" said an angry Naruto, as he was now in front of Hinata looking at where he hit the now injured Hyuuga Branch member, and missed the blush that was now covering her face.

'That kick was powerful for a kid his age. Interesting,' thought Tia, as she walked over to her adopted son, and saw him look at her sheepishly.

"I only saw a glimpse of the kick that Dad did the other night and I tried to pull it off myself," said Naruto, as he knew his Mom would want an explanation on how he did that, and didn't want to make her angry with him.

'He did that just from seeing Grimmjow do it _once_?! The kick wasn't powerful like mine or even Grimmjow's by our standards, but the fact he could pull off a kick just like it with devastating results on the target of the kick is staggering. What else can Naruto do if he were taught?' thought Tia, as she gave the boy a nod of approval, and Naruto smiled back at her while bathing in the praise given.

"Um...how are we going to explain this to your Father Hinata-chan?" said Naruto, as he knew his actions while noble..._may _have been considered an insult to the clan, and could cause problems for Hinata in the future.

"Father will understand everything when I explain things to him," said Hinata, as she was looking from Naruto to Tia, and could tell that this woman was not like others in more ways then one though she dared not use her bloodline to find out _how_ different the former Espada really was.

"Thanks Hinata-chan! You're the best!" said Naruto before giving Hinata hug and the girl turned red with her body going limp from fainting.

'Cute,' thought Tia, as Naruto began to panic, and looking for his Mother for help.

Taking pity on her adopted son, the woman took Hinata from his arms, and placed the girl on a nearby park bench before waiting for the Hyuuga Heiress to wake up. When the girl did, she instantly apologized for fainting on Naruto, and Naruto himself was quickly apologizing at the same time.

It made the former Espada want to laugh, which was something she didn't think was even possible given her personality, and decided not to laugh for her son's sake. Instead, the female Arrancar just watched the two interact with one another, and wait for Grimmjow to finish his "meeting" with the Hokage.

(Konoha-Several Days Later)

Jiraiya of the Sannin walked through the gates of Konoha, his heart while still feeling young had felt itself becoming strained like his old sensei's no doubt was, and after what happened with Naruto if the message was any indication the Seal Master didn't blame him. Jiraiya had put that Dead Man's Switch on the boy shortly within the hour after the sealing of the Kyuubi into the boy's body being done, as he felt this was for the best while the Sandaime took care of the boy for the next couple of years, and had to lie to Tsunade about her only Godson being dead.

It wasn't easy to fool the Slug Sannin due to her superior medical skills, as he had to use a blood clone after drawing a smile vile of blood, and performed the special hand signs to make it seem like it was actually a dead baby's body before his teammate. As for the life expectancy of the clone itself, it would be the at of six full hours before its body broke down, and by that point Tsunade was long gone from Konoha with Shizune at her side to help the Sannin through the next couple of years worth of grief.

The one thing Jiraiya feared when he made that plan with the Sandaime was the fact that _if_ Tsunade discovered what he had done, she would _destroy him_ in every sense of those words if caught, and had to restrain himself from telling her the truth when she broke down crying when shown the fake body. Jiraiya had asked the Sandaime why were they doing this to her and his old sensei merely stated that "She cannot be trusted to act in the best interest of the village when it comes to Naruto" before leaving it at that.

Walking through Konoha, the Toad Sannin headed straight for the Leaf's hospital where Naruto was according to the message the Sandaime sent, and would be sedated until the secondary seal could be inspected before possibly being improved. As Jiraiya walked, he felt a strange sense of dread fill up in his soul, and it was an old feeling he had not felt in a long time since the day he went to peep on the hot springs where Tsunade had caught him before beating the Sannin within an inch of his life.

'Why was it back now? Tsunade wouldn't dare set foot in Konoha again after the loss of Nawaki, Dan, Kushina, and then Naruto being the last straw of all four of them,' thought Jiraiya, as Kushina had died in childbirth, which wasn't Tsunade's fault despite losing the redheaded woman from complication that had sprung up during the pregnancy, and the Kyuubi knocking on their doorstep not help much either.

Shrugging it off as just him starting to get old, Jiraiya entered the hospital, and went to the floor the receptionist told him to go to that was the fifth floor. Once done, the Sannin walked down the rows of rooms around him until he reached room number 544, and then opened it to see Naruto sedated for him to inspect the Shinigami seal along with the Dead Man Switch.

What he _saw_ was Senju Tsunade, the Slug Princess, and fellow Sannin turning to face him with murderous eyes with a man with skull like mask on his lower right jaw grinning evilly at this situation.

"Hello Jiraiya. We need to..._talk_!" said Tsunade, as she spoke the last word in a way that Jiraiya knew was anything, _but_ talking to him, and the Toad Sannin would have run for his life had it not been for Tsunade's assistant standing behind him to cut off his retreat.

"Sorry little man, but you're not going anywhere until we all get some answers, and of course...you remove the Dead Man's Switch on Naruto's body," said Grimmjow, as he saw the Jiraiya face go pale, and Tsunade's face go red with anger.

"I-I don't know what your talking about! Honest Tsunade-hime! I don't really know what is going on and as for Naruto...he's dead!" said Jiraiya, as he saw Grimmjow shake his head at him, and then saw Tsunade grab his coat before throwing his body into the room where the former Espada put his foot on the Sannin's neck.

"You damn liar! You fucking traitor! How dare you lie to me! You and sensei both!" said Tsunade, as she saw Jiraiya trying to get out from underneath Grimmjow's foot, but he stopped when the Arrancar brought out a Cero to the Toad Sannin's face ready to unleash it should the man continue resisting.

"Your old teammate and I had an interesting talk before your arrival here you bastard," said Grimmjow, as he remembered how Tsunade had come to the hospital yesterday based on a lie, though it was a different lie from the one he made the Sandaime write to Jiraiya, and made the Third Hokage sign the adoption papers so he along with Tia would be Naruto's parents.

(Flashback-Konoha Hospital-The Previous Day)

"I hate being here in this place. So many bad memories are here and too few good one," said Tsunade to herself, as her assistant Shizune was right behind her, and Tonton in the assistant's arms.

"But the Sandaime desperately needs you Tsunade-sama. Surely you couldn't deny his request for medical aid on his aging body?!" said Shizune, as she had read the message the Sandaime sent her about him having heart problems from the stress of being Hokage, and requested the Slug Princess come back to help fix the problem.

"I know that Shizune, but sensei shouldn't be Hokage anymore, and should find a damn successor already instead!" said Tsunade, as she entered the room where the Sandaime was supposed to be, and found in the old man's place a spiky blonde haired dark skinned woman with her face being covered by the collar of her white shirt.

Beside the face covered woman was an equally blonde haired blue eyed boy in her arms while a man with wavy blue haired and blue eyed man with a with a piece of a skull on the right side of his face. Before Tsunade, Shizune, or Tonton could react they soon felt an intense pressure fall upon their person that made them fall on all fours.

Or in Tonton's case it was her belly.

"You're here first. Good! I was hoping you would be here before the other guy since we have a lot to talk about," said Grimmjow, as he walked around the bodies, and shut the door before he along with Tia let up on the spiritual pressure.

"Who are you? Where is the Sandaime?" said Tsunade, as she got up from the ground, and was ready to fight if not for Grimmjow grabbing Shizune by the neck.

"Keep your panties on lady. The old geezer's fine. His regular doctors took care of the injuries I hit him with a few days ago upon our arrival to this shithole. I asked him to write a letter to you and your teammate to get you both back here. Each with a different reason since I wanted to ask you both questions separately about your Godson...Uzumaki Naruto," said Grimmjow, as he saw Tsunade look at him angrily, and knew she would try to punch him the instant he put Shizune down.

"What questions? And what about my Godson. My Godson is dead! He died the day of the Kyuubi attack!" said Tsunade, as she heard a whimper behind her, and saw the blonde haired boy's sorrow filled eyes with the woman's green ones looking extremely angry.

"Okay. I see how it is. So the next question I give you will decide the fate of your dear assistant here with me snapping her pretty neck should the answer you give resulting in pissing me off! Are you saying Naruto is dead because you think that he's a demon and abandoned him? Or were you lied to and told Naruto was dead?" said Grimmjow, as he saw confusion on Tsunade's face, and then saw the woman look at Naruto again.

"What are you talking about? Jiraiya and the Sandaime showed me my Godson's body in the morgue. He said that the sealing took the child's life because there was so much of the demon's chakra flooding his system that it poisoned his body," said Tsunade, as she saw Grimmjow frown, and looked at Tia with another frown of her own.

"Are you saying you don't hate Naruto for holding the Kyuubi in his body," said Tia, as she held the boy close to her, and felt his heart beating at a much faster pace because of Tsunade's words.

"Hate him? Why the Hell would I hate my own Godson? If he were alive, I would have taken him away from the village so I could have at least one good thing from the village after all the things I lost from this place, and wouldn't come back until Naruto was a full grown adult fully trained to defend himself against an entire army of S-Class Shinobi!" said Tsunade, as she saw the boy in Tia's arms look at him with hopeful eyes, and put everything together.

"Right answer lady. Looks like your going to live to see another day," said Grimmjow, as he put Shizune down, and the woman took a solid leap back away from him while using healing chakra on her throat while rubbing it.

"So the boy in her arms is Naruto?" said Tsunade, as she slowly walked towards the two blondes, and get a better look at the boy.

"Do you have a big rack on your chest?" said Grimmjow, as he grinned at Tsunade, who had turned her head, and glared at him before turning to face Naruto.

"Hello Naruto-kun. I'm Senju Tsunade. I'm your Godmother. I...I _was_ supposed to take care of you since you were born, but I was lied to by someone close to me, and I hope you will give this foolish woman a chance to redeem herself," said Tsunade, as she saw him being cautious of her before looking at the blonde dark skinned woman, and then back at her.

"You promise not to hurt me because of the Kyuubi?" said Naruto, as he had been told by his adopted parents about the fox, and what he would one day become.

"Of course Naruto-kun. I promise," said Tsunade before the boy leaped from the woman's arms into her own and was hugging the Sannin's neck in a vice while saying he was so happy to have his family growing.

"Well now that is settle, I think there are some..._things_ you need to know about the boy's life here, and what was found on him," said Grimmjow, as he saw Tsunade pry Naruto from her neck, and put him on the ground where he headed over to Shizune along with Tonton in order to make more new friends.

"What _things_? What has happened to my Godson behind my back?" said Tsunade, as she looked at Grimmjow, and then at Tia before they told her what Naruto them about his life here in the Leaf along with the Dead Man Switch placed on the boy's heart by her old teammate Jiraiya of the Sannin.

"THEY DID WHAT?!" yelled Tsunade, as her voice had shaken the hospital to its very foundation, and was heard throughout the entire village.

"Is she always this scary when angry?" said Naruto in a whispery voice to Shizune, who nodded in agreement, and Tonton doing the same.

"You think we'd make this shit up?!" said Grimmjow plainly.

"No. I can tell right away that you're not human and that you have no reason to lie. You didn't even have to stay here in the Leaf with Naruto!" said Tsunade, as she saw the two nod, and looked at the boy petting Tonton with said pig loving the affection.

"Damn straight! This kid will become more powerful then you can even begin to imagine and these assholes wanted to force the kid into submission while only allowing a _fraction_ of his potential because they're so damn afraid of what he holds," said Grimmjow, as he hated people, who stunted another person's growth, or development out of fear that the potential in the person will make everyone else look like a piece of crap by comparison.

"I still can't believe Jiraiya would put that kind of seal on Naruto," said Shizune, as she spoke for the first time to them during this entire meeting, and Tia walked over to Naruto before silently removing his shirt with the boy understanding of what she was doing.

Tsunade along with Shizune gasped at just how malnourished the boy was, as it was clear Naruto had only _recently_ been given food to combat the lack of nutrients in his body, and saw the Dead Man Switch on Naruto's chest where his heart was when Tia touched the part of the boy. Tsunade knelt down to inspect the seal with Shizune, as she had seen a few Dead Man Switches placed on several dangerous prisoners during the last war whom had the potential to break free from prisons, and this was certainly one of them done by the boy's own _Godfather_!

Oh, Jiraiya was _SO_ _dead_ when she saw him again.

(Flashback Ends)

"You don't understand! I had to put it on Naruto. The Councils and the people in the Leaf were calling for blood the moment they learned about him holding the Kyuubi when our sensei made the announcement! It was the only way to prevent the boy's execution!" said Jiraiya while trying not to piss himself in front of the two former Espada, and his former teammate.

"And the part about lying to me? The fake body?!" said Tsunade, as she saw Jiraiya look away, and Grimmjow put pressure on his neck to near breaking.

"Sensei asked me too! He felt you weren't responsible enough to take care of Naruto due to your 'emotional baggage', as he called it that, and wanted you out of the Leaf with this being the best way to do it. Sensei knew that if you would be out of the village within an hour if you believed Naruto was dead! He said Naruto would need to form bonds with the people of Konoha and he couldn't do that if the gaki wasn't in the village," said Jiraiya, as he felt Grimmjow take his foot off his neck, and let out a sigh of relief.

That relief was cut short when his eyes landed on Tsunade's high heeled feet now inches from his face, which in his mind was _not_ a good thing, and looked up to see the angry woman's face.

"Why? Why listen to him when you _knew_ the people would treat Naruto like crap? You knew I could have protected Naruto from them and he _certainly_ didn't need to be here to form 'bonds' when everyone around him just want to break him. You _knew_ they would despite that damn seal and you didn't do _anything_ to stop them from hurting our Godson. You didn't even stay to watch over Naruto! Not _once_ did you visit him to make sure he was safe!" said Tsunade, as she kicked Jiraiya hard into a wall, and picked him up by his collar before shoving him against the wall.

"I had to choose Tsunade. It was either the safety of the village or my Godson. I chose the village's safety. Simple as that," said Jiraiya, who was then punched hard in the gut, and then slammed into the ground before Tsunade kicked him into the next room.

"It was the _wrong_ choice you baka!" said Tsunade, as she was so angry right now to hit just about anything that breathed in this village, and rip its throat out.

"Your Grandfather the Shodaime Hokage would have disagreed," said the Sandaime, as he walked into the room, and soon found himself being pinned to a nearby wall by his former student.

"And how would _you_ know?! Besides, I doubt my Grandfather would have done what you did, and let these people hurt my Godson. Maybe we should do that to your own _Grandchild_ I hear your daughter-in-law is expecting soon and see how _you_ like it!" said Tsunade, as he saw the Sandaime flinch at her words, and look away from her angry eyes that demanded answers.

"You don't understand Tsunade. It had to be done to appease the masses," said the Third Hokage before being pulled towards Tsunade and was barely an inch from her face.

"You did it to appease an angry mob and the Councils that used that mob to take all of your power as Hokage. You lost your damn spine and you gave into the demand of the bloodthirsty masses because you didn't have the strength to do what was right. The man I knew as my sensei would have fought for Naruto with everything he had and not let all the people wanting political power for their own means push him around. You are _unfit _to be Hokage!" said Tsunade, as she saw the Sandaime shrivel up like a tired old man, and it made the woman want to puke at the shadow of a man that had been her sensei.

"Who is going to take my place Tsunade? You?! As I recall, this place brings back bad memories, and I believe the whole idea of being Hokage was something you called a 'fool's errand', if I remember correctly," said the Sandaime, as he knew how Tsunade lost her loved ones to the title when they desired to have it, and even now saw pain in those eyes his student.

"I may not be the perfect choice for Hokage like your late successor, but I _know_ would be a far better one then _you_, and if becoming Hokage means I can use my power to protect my Godson from the bakas that _you_ let run things in this village my Grandfather helped build...then I guess I'm your new successor," said Tsunade, as she saw Shizune look at her like she was nuts, and heard Naruto cheering her on.

It was time a Senju once more became Hokage.

(Hokage Tower-Meeting Room-4 Days Later)

"What is the meaning of this? Why did the Sandaime summoning us to a meeting now?" said Uchiha Fugaku, as he was called into an early morning meeting with the Clan Heads, and two Councils to an Emergency Meeting by the Hokage.

"If and when the Hokage chooses to have an Emergency Meeting with us for something important to the village is at his discretion Fugaku. You know that," said Aburame Shibi, who had sensed growing hostility between the Hokage, and the Uchiha Clan in the recent years.

"Doesn't matter. He should make such meetings that do not conflict with a Clan Head's schedule," said Fugaku, as he sat down in his chair, and saw the others around him do the same.

"All of the Clan Heads or just you Fugkau?" said Tsunade, as she turned around in the Hokage's chair to reveal herself to them all, and they were all clearly shocked to see her.

"Tsunade! When did you get back? What are you doing here at this meeting? And why are you in the Hokage's chair?" said a shocked Homura, as he was not expecting this, and it was clear that no one else did too.

"The answers are in order the questions were asked. I got back a few days ago in secret due to a message sent to me by the Sandaime about something important, as for me being here at this meeting, _I_ was the one that had asked for it, and as for being in the Hokage's chair...do I really need to spell it out for everyone?" said Tsunade, as she saw the Shinobi Council go pale, Danzo's face was red, and Nara Shikaku slamming his head onto the table.

"Troublesome. You spoke to the Sandaime upon your return and he made you his newest successor as Hokage," said Shikaku, as he saw Tsunade smirk at him, and silently cursed his genius mind.

"This is an outrage! I will not stand for this!" said Uchiha Fugaku, as he was now about to live in this village where another Senju ruled over the village like they had during his ancestor Uchiha Madara's time.

"The Councils and Clan Heads have no say in the matter in picking a Hokage unless the Hokage dies before naming one. Since the Sandaime is very much alive, but also very old, he felt that the title should go to one of his students that has this in her blood, and there is no one in this room with the blood of the Senju in them...except _me_!" said a now smirking Tsunade seeing the angry looks from the Shinobi Council, and Danzo not liking this situation.

"So this is what this 'Emergency Meeting' is about? This is an abuse of your power!" said Fugaku, who was silenced by Tsunade's killer intent, and any others that wished to join in on denouncing her as Hokage.

"Abuse of power? How about the abuse in _your_ power? Nearly _all _of you have abused your powers and been destroying this village my _family_ help found from the inside out. Do you know _why _Ileft in the first place? I left because I thought I lost my Godson after the Kyuubi was sealed away, but it turns out I was lied to by my teammate Jiraiya, and my old sensei the Sandaime. When I came back, I learned the truth about their betrayal, and I've decided to become Hokage in order to protect my Godson from future harm by you bakas here along with those outside this room!" said Tsunade, as she saw many of them go pale, and the Clan Heads frowning at him.

"If I may ask Tsunade-sama, but who is your Godson, and why would two of the most competent Shinobi in our history do that to you?" said Shibi, as he found no logical to betray Tsunade, and wondered if perhaps the Sandaime had lost his mind before coming out of retirement.

"My Godson's name is...Uzumaki Naruto!" said Tsunade, as she saw the Councils erupt in anger at the mention of the boy, demanding his blood, and the Shinobi Council also denouncing the child as anything except a demon.

"What madness is this?! Uzumaki Naruto is your Godson? I won't accept it!" said Koharu in anger, as she wanted the boy killed, or forced into submission like the Sandaime told her he would do on his terms.

"I figured as much, which is why I want you all to meet the boy's adopted parents, who will be raising Naruto while I perform my duties as Hokage, and making sure no one in the village lays a finger on him until he's ready to return the favor _himself_," said Tsunade, as she buzzed the intercom, and asked Shizune to bring in the boy's adopted parents.

The instant the doors opened, an incredible pressure filled the room that caused the all Civilian Council members to soil themselves if they didn't already faint, the Shinobi Council members were in the same boat, and the Clan Heads were gripping the table like it was a floatation device. Even Tsunade herself while prepared for it, felt the need to cling to the table, and wait for the two former Espada to finish terrorizing them all. When the two finally stood in front of the table, they stopped crushing the people around them with their spiritual pressure, and saw they had everyone's full attention.

"So these are the arrogant fools, who have been making Naruto's life become filled with misery, and loneliness for the past eight years? Such a pathetic looking group of human beings," said Tia, as she was clearly not impressed, and the same could be said in regards to Grimmjow looking around with a bored look on his face.

"How dare you! Do you know who I am? I am from the Uchiha Clan! I have the power to wipe you out in a heartbeat," said Fugaku, as he rose from his chair, and activated his Sharingan Eyes in the hopes it would intimate the two Arrancars.

"Bala!" said Grimmjow, as he hit Fugaku right in the face with his attack, and caused the upper body of the now late Uchiha Clan Head's body to explode.

"Anyone else wish to test the limits of our mercy on you right now?" said Tia, as she saw the man with the cane glaring at them with his one eye while the other was wrapped in bandages bothered her, and made a mental note to run that by the new Hokage later.

The man reminded her too much of Aizen.

"We don't wish to test such limits. However, I would like to politely ask what exactly you are, and where you came from?" said Shibi, as his bugs were going crazy inside his body, and telling him these two were something beyond anything they had ever seen before.

"We're Arrancars. Hollows that have been given Shinigami powers," said Grimmjow, as he grinned at the shock look on there faces, and once more they all shook in fear of them.

"H-Hollows? S-Shinigami p-powers?!" said Hiashi, as he used his Byakugan, and saw the energy the two former Espada possessed before shutting his eyes off since exposure to so much energy would only hurt his eyesight.

"That's right. We come from a world called Hueco Mundo. It's a real nasty place where all the bad souls world go when they _die_! They then become horrible disfigured looking almost demonic like creatures with an emptiness within their bodies that they try to fill by devouring..._human_ _souls_ for sustenance," said Grimmjow seeing everyone, even the new Hokage herself go pale with fear, and rightly so since no one knew about this until today.

"A while back, a rogue Shinigami used a power in his possession to transform Hollows into Arrancars like us to create his own army, but each Arrancar was different in so many ways then the last depending on the Hollow in question that was transformed, and made into an Arrancar. As for us, we were among the Espada, an _elite_ group within the man's army of Arrancars, and even Hollows that served him due to the rogue Shinigami being so powerful," said Tia, as she saw them listening to their every word, and were also quite surprised that there was more then one Shinigami in existence.

"How did you get here?" said Inuzuka Tsume curiously.

"Simple really. We both died. Different ways of course! However, when _we_ died, the unexpected happened, and were granted an audience with the Shinigami _King_ himself!" said Grimmjow, as he loved seeing the look of fear in their eyes, and knew that to meet the King of all Shinigami was a _very _big deal.

"He has been watching you for the last eight years now, seeing how you've all treated Naruto, and has felt guilty in giving the boy the burden of holding the Kyuubi within his body. Apparently, one of the seal's affects of being on Naruto is to _empower_ him with that of certain abilities like us, and needs to be properly trained to master them all. So he sent us to clean up your mess by raising Naruto properly and help him master his powers when they manifest themselves in two years," said Tia, as she saw that information sink in, and make them all realize what Naruto now was due to the sealing.

"The boy will have Shinigami powers?!" said Shikaku, as his eyes widened to their limit, and so did everyone else's.

"The boy must be put into a breeding program at once! The Leaf will be invincible!" said Danzo, as the idea of having an army of Shinobi armed with the power of the Death God of Death was indescribable, and wanted that boy in his Root program immediately.

"Excuse me?! You want to run that by us again?" said Grimmjow, as he looked at Danzo a disgusted look on his face, and saw the old fool rise from his seat while using his cane to support him.

"You heard me! The boy will be used to breed countless children who can then be trained to use this power to conquer our enemies so the Leaf village is the most dominant place in the world! Even the Daimyos themselves would bow down to us with such an army at our command!" said Danzo, as he saw several of his associates on the Councils nod their heads in agreement, but Tsunade put her foot down before the two Arrancar could do it for her, and glared at old war hawk with intense rage.

"That is _my_ Godson you're talking about Danzo. If Naruto's own surrogate parents don't destroy you, then I will in their place, and I promise to see that your suffering knows no end just to hear you beg for death to come!" said Tsunade, as she saw the man glare back, and snarl at the woman for taking this opportunity for power away from the Leaf.

From him!

'We will see about that you Senju bitch!' thought Danzo, as he was going to have his Root Shinobi pay the boy a visit when his powers manifested themselves, and then condition him to be his most deadliest of Shinobi under his personal command.

"There is also one more thing you should know. I'm raising the punishment level on those that have broken the Sandaime's law about the Kyuubi and I know people have. Even as we speak, I'm ordering all financial records be seized from every store Naruto was ever allowed him in for every bit of food he bought, clothing to wear, etc. All the stores that ripped him off in terms of prices will be taxed heavily in fines, every store that has kicked him out will be closed, and they will stay that way until _I _say so. If there is any mention of the fox by the people in anyway by the use of the names like 'demon boy', 'monster', 'fox brat', and anything else that points towards the Kyuubi inside of Naruto they will be killed. _No_ _exceptions_!" said Tsunade, as she saw those against Naruto protest this while each of the Clan Heads, minus the late Uchiha Fugkau of course, who were all looking on were pleased by this, and glad _this_ Hokage wasn't giving any slack to these idiots.

With the meeting adjourned, the two former Espada saw Tsunade fall back in her chair before going for some sake' she had stashed away under her chair knowing it would come in handy later, and began drinking its contents. Not like she didn't deserve it, as Tsunade had forced Jiraiya to remove the Dead Man's Switch on Naruto immediately, effectively taken care of the bakas on the Councils, and basically undid a good chunk of injustice done for the past eight years in a single day.

Yep! Sake' was _definitely _her reward for this well earned victory.

"Now that you cleared that mess up, there is one little problem we haven't talked about yet, and it involves Naruto's living conditions with us," said Grimmjow, as they had been using the apartment complex building, and felt they should get out of there for the sake of the boy.

"Yes I know. I want to give Naruto his inheritance, but even with you two adopting him, it will cause a lot of problems with his enemies outside of the village, and the attempts on his life by Iwa. The Yondaime made a lot of enemies with them in the last war and single handedly turned the tide of it in the Leaf's favor," said Tsunade, as she saw the two nod in understanding, and felt that they would have respect the boy's Father despite him being a human.

To Grimmjow, it reminded him of how Ichigo fought, and wished he could have met the man personally for a good old fashion fight.

"We can handle anything sent our way, but it is unfair to the boy by not helping him get stronger if nothing is done, and his potential is wasted away like it is now," said Tia, as she had been helping the boy improve his mind in terms of learning though the boy kind of hated it at first, and female Arrancar told Naruto that a strong mind with an equally strong body equaled an unstoppable force.

That got the boy wanting to learn like a fat guy wanting to eat food at an all you can eat buffet.

"Too true. I'll have to make the announcement about his heritage when he graduates, but the three of you will be staying in the Namikaze Estates until then, and help Naruto with mastering whatever powers he may possess," said Tsunade, as she saw Grimmjow smile, and Tia nod silently before the two left to meet Naruto after school.

Now all Tsunade had to deal with, was informing Uchiha Clan Matriarch about the death of Uchiha Fugaku because he challenged someone that wasn't afraid of the clan nor to kill said person of the Uchiha Clan.

That was going to be _SO_ much fun!

(Konoha Shinobi Academy-End of the School Day)

When all the classes ended for the day, Naruto walked out feeling good about himself, as he was asked hard questions that stumped even Sasuke, and answered them all correctly. The teacher, who Naruto knew was one of the people that despised him for holding the Kyuubi within his body, and wanted to make the boy fail hard in front of others to further crush his spirit.

What the instructor, _got_ was his big fat foot caught in his mouth, and a room now full of shocked students at his accomplishment of outsmarting everyone. It wasn't easy knowing so much, but his adopted parents had been with him to read everything in the book so they could learn about it too, and further help the blonde get stronger before his powers awoke in two years. Grimmjow said that his Shinigami powers would come out when he received his zanpakuto that will look like a normal sword, but was in fact an extension of his inner self, and that zanpakuto had a name that he would only hear when ready.

So until then, Naruto was to learn about the way of the Shinobi before he integrated his Shinigami powers into his training regime, which had already started shortly after both Arrancar found out about his grades in the Academy, and helping him get stronger. As expected, Grimmjow wanted Naruto to be the "King of the Academy", and beat all the other kids his age since no son of his was going to be labeled "dead last". Harribel for the most part agreed, but told Naruto that while at the Academy, he should make friends, and to gain support from his generation since she believed they could be saved from all the arrogance that surrounded them.

Naruto had no problem with that, as he was hungry to learn, to get stronger, and to make friends so he could become a legendary Shinobi like his parents.

"Naruto!" said Shikamaru, as he managed to run in a small ways without getting winded for once, and catch up to the blonde.

"Hey Shikamaru! How are you doing? Still sleeping your way through all of our class?" said Naruto laughing at seeing a tick mark on his friends face.

"Sure, laugh it up Naruto," said Shikamaru since he _did_ sleep through most of his classes, but was so smart that he didn't really need to learn all that stuff they learned today at the Academy since his _Mother_ taught it to him on the weekends with a frying pan to be used to stimulate his mind.

Or destroy it. Shikamaru could never understand the concept of hitting the mind with a hard metal object to make it work better.

Maybe it was a woman thing?

"I can because its funny and true. Oh did you hear, I got adopted by two really strong people nearly a week ago, and they've been helping me get stronger!" said Naruto, as he still found it hard to believe that someone wanted to adopt him, but the boy was waking up early everyday to learn something new, and it was through the two Arrancar that it was possible.

Not to mention the new Hokage was also fulfilling her duties in being his Godmother by giving him medical checkups along with foods to eat to help combat the malnutrition his body had.

After she had the extra seal removed, Tsunade asked the blonde to mold chakra for her to see how much he had right now, and was surprised to know he had so much that it was borderline high Chuunin to low Jounin. His chakra control was nonexistent because of this, which meant any Jutsus Naruto learned that were low level would not work properly in his hands even if his chakra control had improved, and one such Jutsu that was going to be a problem in the future was the Clone Jutsu. Also, given Naruto's low ranking in the Academy due to his instructors being part of it, and no one to help teach him at home the boy's mind was not nearly as sharp as it should be so _that_ needed to be corrected too.

So, Tsunade with the help of the Forbidden Scroll in the vault in the Hokage's office, showed Naruto the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which unlike other clone based Jutsus required high levels of chakra to make, and the clones themselves would send everything they knew to the original when they went "poof" when done. Within hours, the boy had the Shadow Clone Jutsu down, and Tsunade had the hundreds of Shadow Clones she had him make get to work on studying everything that was going to be taught at the Academy to help remove the educational gap the boy had since being in the school.

Even now, several Shadow Clones were performing chakra control exercises, and reading up on things his _other_ Godparent gave him to learn. In regards to Jiraiya, the blonde boy couldn't look at the Toad Sannin in the eyes without being reminded of the betrayal the man had done, and putting that kill switch on his body for whatever reason he thought was best. Naruto would tolerate the Sannin's presence, but the man wasn't allowed to be alone with the boy whether training, or just hanging out to form _some kind _of bond with each other.

Though such a bond was frail at best and nonexistent at worse.

"Yeah I heard. You've only been talking about them the _whole_ _day_ when not in class and saying how awesome they are," said Shikamaru though he was skeptical about what his friend had told him about getting new adopted parents, but the Nara Clan Heir also didn't want to call his friend a liar about this, and would keep his mouth shut about how Naruto was just pulling his leg.

"That because we are awesome kid," said Grimmjow, as he appeared behind the kid, and made Shikamaru jump 10 feet in the air before landing on his butt.

"Where did you come from?" said Shikamaru, as he _knew_ for a fact that no one had been behind him moments ago, and now this guy just appeared out of what felt like thin air.

"From the Hokage's Tower actually," said Tia, as she scared Shikamaru this time, and the Nara turned to see possibly _the only_ woman in his mind that could make even his Mother tremble in fear.

"Hi Mom. Hi Dad. This is Nara Shikamaru. He's been my friend for awhile now at the Academy, but he's a bit lazy, and doesn't really pay attention in class," said Naruto, as he saw Shikamaru's eyebrow twitch, and Grimmjow laugh at the boy's description.

'This kid reminds me of Starrk,' thought Grimmjow since he saw much of Starrk's usual laziness in this boy.

"I'm pleased to meet you both. Excuse me I have to go home now," said Shikamaru while sensing these two were incredibly strong and decided to ask his Father about them since they did say they just came from the Hokage Tower where a meeting was held by the Hokage earlier today.

"So how did you do in school today Naruto? Are all teachers still giving you a hard time for _that_?" said Grimmjow, as he saw Naruto nod, but knew that the boy's new studying plan was helping the blonde get back on track, and at the teachers trying to sabotage him from within the place.

The only reason neither of the former Espada blew up the damn building with all of the teachers in it was because Tsunade told them that she _personally_ would _deal_ with that situation "in her own way", and the two Arrancar decided to trust the new Hokage.

"Yeah, but I outsmarted them today by answering all the questions they threw at me, and even told them things not even they knew," said Naruto, as he had added in facts into his answers to the questions his teachers asked, and saw at least _one_ teacher looking in his book before his face went pale in seeing the blonde was right.

"Good," said Tia, as she knew the boy would need to learn all he could in the next two years because it would be at that point the boy's zanpakuto would come out, and things would be different in terms in the boy's learning.

There was also the matter of Naruto's Hollow side coming out. The two Arrancar didn't know _when_ the Hollow side would come out since they didn't know much about Vizards. Even Grimmjow's own experience with them was limited to only fighting two of them and that was it without knowing how Vizards even unlocked their Hollow side.

They felt the stronger Naruto was as himself, the better for when his Hollow side came out, and challenged him for his body since that was what the two Espada believed would happen.

"Any jerks in your class?" said Grimmjow, as he knew that while Naruto would make friends, there was also the chance that some kids would try to pick on him, and be like their damn parents.

"A few. Nothing to worry about though this one kid Uchiha Sasuke has been pushing his weight around like he's something special," said Naruto, as he saw his adopted parents looking at each other for a second, and frowned at wondering what that shared look was.

"Unfortunately, I think your _Father_ here made you an enemy since he killed the boy's arrogant Father in a meeting, and it won't be long before they connect us to you," said Tia, as Naruto looked at his Father grin sheepishly, and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oops," said Grimmjow, as saw Tia, and Naruto face plant.

"Oops? Oops! Now I have the whole damn clan on my ass!" said Naruto, who saw the stern gaze from Harribel for his choice in language, and Grimmjow chuckling at him.

"Naruto! Who taught you such language?" said Tia with her "I'm your Mother you will tell me everything" look she was still perfecting.

"Dad did while you spoke to the mean landlord. Though he said not to tell you if asked. Why is that?" said Naruto, as he saw Tia look at Grimmjow, and the said Espada glaring at him.

"Because your not supposed to until your much older and I'm _not_ around. _That's_ why you baka!" said Grimmjow, as he quickly ran away with Tia now chasing him, and Naruto watched this go on for about 30-45 minutes before Tia _finally_ caught her fellow Arrancar in a headlock.

Though they had to cut their antics short upon the arrival of a single Uchiha with a blank expression on his face.

"Are you the ones that killed Uchiha Fugaku?" said the young Shinobi, who saw the two Arrancar look at him like he was weird, and then nod his head.

"Yeah. Though for the record, I'm the one responsible for his death, and would do it again if I had the chance," said Grimmjow, as he saw the young Shinobi nod his head, and then bow before the two like he was...grateful?

"I see. My apologize to you both for what my late..._Father_ did in your presence and for the past actions he has led against your adopted son," said Itachi, as he saw Grimmjow raise his eyebrow, and Harribel just blink once at the apology.

"Your not...angry at me?" said Grimmjow, as he was kind of expecting the entire clan to come after them, and try to kill them both before going after Naruto.

"My Father, like most of my clan is filled with arrogant fools, who think only of the clan, and our bloodline rather then thinking outward like I have. However, now that I am the new Head of the Uchiha Clan, I can hopefully make changes to it, and for the better," said Itachi, as he had long since broken away from his clan, and there way of thinking after the last Shinobi war.

"I wouldn't hold my breath, but if you think its possible, then by all means go for it, and get that damn stick out of their assess," said Grimmjow, as he figured the clan was still doomed, but he had been wrong before, and wasn't going to stop this Itachi guy from doing the same.

"Thank you. Good luck in your own training Uzumaki Naruto," said Itachi, as he left before Naruto could say anything else, and made the blonde wonder if Itachi was really adopted into the clan or something.

His mind shifted however, as it went from thinking about the odd Uchiha to his stomach, and wanting to be fed the one thing it loved most.

Ramen.

So with that in mind, Naruto's stomach let out a mighty roar indicating what it wanted, and the boy's surrogate parents knew better to defy their child's stomach.

(A/N: YAY! I updated! Hope you liked it. It was a bit difficult to write a some points because I was trying to picture what Grimmjow and Harribel's actions. Her first name is Tia right? Not Harribel? Its hard to tell with them? If not, I'm sorry about that, and make changes to it later. Until next time...PEACE!!!)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-Knowing his Name

Two long years went by after the incident with the two former Espada coming to Konoha and forcing things to be changed from the direction they were going. Senju Tsunade, as the new Fifth Hokage of the Leaf began using her powers to take back what was taken from her position by the Councils, and finding quite a few problems the governing body of Konoha had done to the village. First, she cracked down on the Merchant District of the Leaf, and began finding the ones that had mistreated her Godson before sending the fools straight to Ibiki for a week.

As for the Uchiha Clan, the majority of them were furious at the loss of their Clan Head Uchiha Fugaku at the hands of Grimmjow, and demanded swift vengeance against the Arrancar. Itachi however, told them that such an act was foolish, and his Father's demise was something of his own making in provoking the Arrancar into killing him. Many of the Uchiha didn't want to believe that, even if it was true since Fugaku had always been temperamental, and tended to say things before thinking in moments of anger.

As for Sasuke, the younger of the two Uchiha brothers was angry at Itachi's way of doing things, and asked him why they could use their overwhelming numbers to strike back. Itachi merely looked at his brother for a second before poking him in the forehead and leaving the now downed boy on the ground rubbing his forehead.

_Foolish little brother. The strength of every Leaf Shinobi in the village combined is not enough to defeat one of those two individuals. Let sleeping dogs stay asleep Sasuke. Do not provoke what should not be provoked in the first place._

Sasuke however, did not believe that, as he like his own Father, felt the Uchiha Clan was destined for greatness, and wished to make such greatness a reality. So the boy trained in the Shinobi arts almost nonstop, as he ignored everything around him from fun to having friends, and bonding with his classmates at the Academy.

At the Academy, Sasuke was trying to pick fights with Naruto whenever he had a chance to provoke the boy into fighting him, and get the blonde in trouble. It didn't work very well, as Naruto's adopted Mother had taught the boy patience from the start, and that letting your temper get the best of you was a sure way to get killed at the hands of an enemy. By showing patience against an enemy, the opposition will lose their own, and bring themselves one step closer to defeat.

As for Naruto himself, he was glad to live in his Father's clan home, but was upset that he couldn't tell anyone about it, and felt that it was wrong. Tsunade understood why he felt that way, as the blonde wanted to be loved, even if it meant that it wasn't true, and had to explain to Naruto that if the people don't love you for who you are then they were idiots that don't deserve his love back.

It did make Naruto happy that his heritage would be announced after graduating from the Academy and was training extra hard even though his parents wanted him to graduate with the rest of kids his age. In reality, Naruto wanted that to happen anyway since any team he was on by gradating early wouldn't work out very well, and the blonde had already bonded with several students. Among the group was Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, Hyuuga Hinata (of course), and even a young boy a year ahead of him named Rock Lee he encountered trying to punch through a training post hours after school was over.

The two hit it off very well, as they knew what it was like to be picked on by others for being considered different, and tried to help the other when they could. Lee's problem was that he couldn't use chakra due to his underdeveloped coils, which severely limited his abilities in being a Shinobi of Konoha, and threatened to destroy the boy's dreams in being one. Naruto however, told Lee that if he just kept trying on the one thing he _could_ do, and it would give him a secret edge in battle that no other Shinobi had. When Lee asked him to explain further, Naruto told him that Shinobi focus primarily on Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu to a slightly lesser extent. After they deplete their chakra, they don't have the strength necessary to fight back against someone in close quarters, and would be overwhelmed in the end.

Lee took this to heart and began training harder in Taijutsu knowing that it would be his greatest strength that would overcome his two great weaknesses.

At home, Naruto practice when he could on his Shinobi skills while his parents also made sure he learned about his sword that he would acquire by the end of this Academic year, and it would be painful since the sword would come out of his the seal on his stomach. It wasn't going to be easy since Naruto would no doubt possess immense spiritual energy coming out of him when the process happened, and would have to _pull_ the zanpakuto out of his body. It was also unknown if the zanpakuto would remained sealed or unsealed depending on the amount of spiritual energy that would be released much less controlled.

Grimmjow easily remembered how Kurosaki Ichigo had his sword constantly staying in its unsealed state due to his inability to not control his spiritual energy.

But that was at the end of the Academic year and this was now with Naruto sitting under a tree mediating.

"Hey loser!" said Uchiha Sasuke, as saw Naruto doing his usual routine during breaks from classes, and decided once more to pick on the blonde.

It was the least he could do for his late Father since the late Uchiha Clan Head had shown a constant dislike if not bordering hatred for the blonde. It only made sense for Sasuke to keep up his Father's work and make Naruto's life miserable like everyone else in Konoha did.

"Go away Sasuke. I'm not in the mood to hurt you right now so please leave me alone," said Naruto, as he had been trying to avoid the Uchiha when the arrogant boy wanted to start a pointless fight, and remembered how his parents told him not to fight weaklings like the Uchiha.

No matter how much the little piss ant deserved a trip to the hospital.

"Why? Afraid I'll mop the floor with you? That I'll show everyone just what a spineless coward you are just like your freak parents?" said Sasuke, as he saw Naruto's right eye open, and knew he was getting somewhere.

"First off, you should keep my parents out of this since they have more power in one of their hangnails then you do in your entire body, and have taught me well. Second, if you want to bring up spineless parents, then you won't mind I bring up your bastard Father, who met his end at the hands of my Father, and died a fool's death," said Naruto, as he saw Sasuke's smirk turn into a sneer, and scowl that told the blonde he hit close to the Uchiha's heart.

"Shut up! At least my Father was mine by blood. Not some freak nature who took pity on a mere orphan boy from some whore of woman that didn't want something that should have been drowned in the river," said Sasuke, as he had heard the talk from the others in the Uchiha Clan, and the village populous when they talked about Naruto.

Now _both_ of Naruto's eyes were open.

"You don't even know anything about my family, except what the people whisper behind my back, and only say such lies because that's all they can say to me," said Naruto calmly though there was an edge in his voice, and anyone hearing him talk would know to tread carefully when talking back.

"It doesn't matter to me if they're lies or not. Your status is low class compared to that of my clan. You might as well be what they say you are compared to someone like me," said Sasuke once again smirking at Naruto, as he saw the boy in front of him slowly rise from his sitting position, and now noticed all eyes were on them.

The smirk left his face when Naruto blasted him with killing intent that forced the Uchiha to his knees gasping for breath while the blonde moved to stand to the left of him before putting hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

Naruto squeezed it..._hard_!

"Sasuke, I'm only going to tell you this once, and _only_ once so for the sake of your life I suggest you pay close attention. Compared to _me_, you are full of shit, and I will break your body in two if you insult my family again. Stay away from me," said Naruto, as he let go of Sasuke's shoulder, and walked away before releasing the killer intent so the Uchiha could breathe properly again.

'This isn't over you low class scum. Not by a long shot!' thought Sasuke, as he glared at the retreating form of Naruto, and vowed to make the blonde pay.

(Shinobi Academy Room 204-At the Moment)

"Look at that _thing_! The damn creature actually thinks it's untouchable now that it has _parents_ and has the new Hokage on its side. Unbelievable!" said Mizuki, as he watched the interaction between Naruto, and Sasuke with distain at seeing the outcome.

"Don't be so outspoken Mizuki. You know it will get you in trouble if someone hears you speaking like that. Don't call Naruto 'it' or else the Hokage will find out and she has a zero tolerance policy on how people treat Naruto," said Iruka, as he had to admit there was some feeling of animosity aimed at the blonde at first, but it ended when seeing how Naruto was treated at first, and didn't do anything about it like a demon would have if what people had called the boy were true.

Naruto wasn't the Kyuubi in his eyes.

'Typical Iruka. Well, I'm not going to let this new Hokage, or the thing's new parents stop me from preventing the demon from graduating no matter how good the monster's grades are,' thought Mizuki, as he had tried to make Naruto fail using every trick he knew, and had failed at every turn in making the blonde fail his tests.

Mizuki suspected Iruka learned of his actions, fixed the papers before grading them, and kept his mouth shut out of respect for their friendship. While Mizuki was glad that Iruka didn't report him, the man also wished that the demon boy was blind, dead, and dumb before finally being dead.

"I'm surprised the boy showed so much progress in what he learned from my classes. I know some of the other instructors are less then pleased, but if they could get over the fact of what Naruto holds, then I know they would be just as happy, and wish him the best of luck," said Iruka, as he was seeing a prodigy unlike any other since the Yondaime himself, and found a bit of irony in that fact.

"It shouldn't be here in this Academy in the first place. It should be locked up or killed so we wouldn't have to deal with this situation," said Mizuki, as he went back to his desk to grade papers, and saw Iruka was doing the same with Naruto's paper in hand.

(Namikaze Estates-That Night)

"It's time Naruto," said Tia, as she saw Naruto nod his head with a serious look on his face, and they went out back where Grimmjow was waiting for them.

It was an interesting two years for the two Arrancars in Naruto's mind, as they interacted with the boy during that time, and he could see there was _something _going on between them. They of course ignored the feelings felt when near the other, but Naruto could see that while they were together for his sake, the two were also slowly coming together for what they felt for each other, and made sure to give them a little nudge every so often just to be sure the feelings grew. The two still slept in separate beds, but that could change given enough time, and some patience would change things in that regard.

"Okay Naruto. You know what to do," said Grimmjow, as he saw Naruto stand in the center of the field now shirtless after being instructed on what would have to happen for this to work, and saw the Shinigami Seal glowing in moonlight.

"Yes Dad," said Naruto, as he ran a hand over the seal, and flinched when he felt a power pulsing against his hand.

The Shinigami Seal soon began to liquefy around his hand, forming a hole in his stomach that frightened Naruto a bit due to the fact he had a _large_ _**hole**__ in his stomach_, and there was _something_ slowly _painfully_ trying to leave his body. The boy fell to his knees in pain, screaming out at the feeling of this something that was so massive leaving his body, and yet Naruto endured it all for the sake of his parents. He wanted to make them proud, to show them that there efforts to raise him had brought about potent fruit worthy of them, and his late biological family.

"Now Naruto! Reach in and pull out your zanpakuto!" said Tia, as she hated to see her son in pain, and it felt like an eternity in terms of waiting for the portal to stabilize for Naruto to pull out the weapon.

Since Naruto was not meant to have this power to begin with, it was only natural that this be painful, and hoped that it also didn't kill him despite the Shinigami King not believing it would.

At the moment, Naruto was trying to do what his Mother told him, as he reached into his stomach, and felt for what should be the hilt to his zanpakuto. If anything, the pain from having the hole seemed to be amplified by having his hand in it, and Naruto gritted his teeth while reaching deep within himself for his zanpakuto before he finally felt the hilt of his new weapon.

Getting a good grip on the hilt, Naruto pulled with all his strength while feeling his hand burning up like it was on fire, and further blocked out the pain. As Naruto pulled, the hilt began to be seen in the moonlight, and the pain intensified greatly for the boy while his two parents watched on. They knew this would hurt since the Shinigami King had left them a scroll indicating on what to do when this day or rather _night_ came where the blonde would received his zanpakuto.

'Hang in there kid. You're made of tough stuff and will take whatever this world dishes out. Wait! What the fuck?' thought Grimmjow, as he saw Naruto's zanpakuto coming out, and made the former Espada's heart nearly stop beating at the sight of it.

As to why that was, the zanpakuto Naruto was pulling out of himself began to manifest into a sword Grimmjow had not seen since his battle with one Kurosaki Ichigo back in Hueco Mundo, and in the stronghold of Las Noches. The former number six Espada watching on wondered if the Shinigami King was messing him, almost mocking the Arrancar, and testing Grimmjow's reaction to the sight of the weapon that had bested him in combat with its Vizard user.

Before Grimmjow could even think about that right now, the scream from Naruto shook him out of it, as massive hole that was on the boy's torso was slowly shrinking after the "halfway" point, and was getting smaller until it was remove from his body when the last of the blade left him. With that done, Naruto collapsed onto the flat side of his zanpakuto, and was soon picked up by Tia holding her child in her arms while checking his pulse for to see if he was alive.

He was.

"Let's get him inside," said Tia, as she gently picked up the sword, and stopped to see the shocked look on Grimmjow's face.

"Its just not possible. How can Naruto have _that_ sword?" said Grimmjow, as he stared at the zanpakuto, and memories of his battle with Ichigo kept running through his mind.

"What's so significant about this zanpakuto?" said Tia, as she walked with Naruto now back into the house, and Grimmjow right behind her with a serious expression on his face.

"It's the very same looking zanpakuto that defeated me in Las Noches," said Grimmjow, as _that_ made Tia stop in her tracks, and look back at him with surprise.

"The same one that belonged to that Vizard Kurosaki Ichigo?" said Tia, as she knew what he was thanks to Aizen, and was one of a handful of the Espada that had taken Aizen's words of caution seriously.

"Yes. Though how the kid got _that_ sword, I don't really understand, and the thought of it is pissing me off inside," said Grimmjow, as he followed Tia to Naruto's bedroom, and saw her placing him in his bed to get some much needed rest.

"Whatever the reason is, don't take your anger out on Naruto, and don't tell him the name of the zanpakuto. Just because it looks like it, doesn't mean that it is," said Tia, as she had unzipped her shirt fully, and gave Naruto a quick kiss on the cheek with her shark teeth like mouth before zipping it back up again.

"You know I won't let that happen. I'd be an idiot if I let my anger get the better of me in the kid's training," said Grimmjow, as he saw Tia walk up to him, and were mere inches away from the other.

"Good. The boy is strong, but he's not ready to handle the full force of your power, and mine for that matter until he achieves Bankai," said Tia, as she knew that Naruto for the most part would learn the Shinigami way of things first with his zanpakuto, and that was one of them.

"Yeah. The only reason he hasn't crumpled under our spiritual pressure before when we unleashed it was due to his close proximity to one of us cancelling it out. In fact, nothing seems to really freak him out anymore now that the truth about his life is known to him. Remember when he saw your face for the first time in the morning when you tried to eat breakfast before the gaki came down?" said Grimmjow, as he saw Tia looking away in embarrassment, and knew she remembered the moment clearly.

It was about a year ago give or take a few weeks since Naruto was adopted. The blonde had woken up earlier then anticipated for training, as the boy was so excited to learn just about everything he could, and had seen his adopted Mother's face for the first time. Tia had been in the middle of eating some eggs while Grimmjow had raided the fridge for the milk that went with his cereal. When the female Arrancar saw Naruto looking at her now exposed face, Tia's eyes widen in fright at the fear of her adopted son seeing the face she had hidden from him for so long and then running away while calling the former Espada a monster.

Instead, Naruto looked at his Mother's face in awe, and thought she looked "really cool" being among the positive words used by him to describe her face. Tia was so shocked by this since such a reaction was not expected by the female Arrancar. Grimmjow was the same way, as he had always told Naruto not to upset Tia by trying to see what she looked like behind the shirt, and when that moment happened the man had dropped the container of milk on his foot causing him to let out a strong of curses that got him socked in the face by Tia.

Naruto of course had to promise not to use those said words until he was much older and if he did...so long as they weren't around to hear them come out of his mouth there would be no punishment.

"That boy isn't afraid of what we are because he's been treated like a monster his whole life," said Tia, as she saw Grimmjow's smile increase, and heard the chuckle leave his lips.

"Yeah. Kid's got a good heart. Strange hearing that from a guy like me. I hope I'm not getting soft," said Grimmjow, as he sensed Tia smirking at him, and then wrapping her arms around his neck while moving a little closer into his personal space.

"Oh really? I happen to find a man with a rough edge, but soft heart to be very..._sexy_, and interesting if you will," said Tia, as she saw him raise an eyebrow at her, and knew that he was wondering what she was getting at with this.

"Really? Then you won't mind me saying that I think a woman, who is strong with the ability to command is a bit of turn on for me, and that your mouth of yours is kind of hot," said Grimmjow, as he grinned at her, and Tia blushed before smacking him the back of the head lightly, and former number six Espada couldn't help the smirk that grew on his own face.

"You must want me to kick your ass," said Tia, as she saw Grimmjow looking innocent now at her, and had to resist the urge to hit him again.

Harder!

"Who? Me? Well...I always thought it would be kind of hot to meet a woman who could kick my ass since its such a rare thing," said Grimmjow, as he saw the upper part of Tia's face ripple in a way that indicated she was smiling at him, and heard the small chuckle coming from her throat.

"Keep talking like that and I may just grant your wish," said Tia, as she let go of him, and walked off to her bedroom with a sway of the hips.

'Thank you Naruto for pushing us together,' thought Grimmjow, as he along with Tia had known of Naruto's attempts of pushing them together in ways that the boy tried to keep under their radar, and had gone with it due to the sake of their adopted son before they felt the pull between them growing.

It wasn't long before they went along with it simply for the Naruto's sake.

(Hokage's Office-The Next Day)

"I see. So Naruto did what you said he would do," said Tsunade, as she saw Tia nod, and eyed Jiraiya cautiously standing by the window looking depressed like he had two years ago.

Even after two years, Naruto only addressed Jiraiya by his name, and then it was only Jiraiya-"san" since the boy did not respect the Seal Master at all.

"Yes. For once, the _Toad Sannin_ here was useful aside from training Naruto with all the seals he put up around the house to keep the spirit energy my son unleashed, and from being felt by everyone in the village," said Tia, as she made an immediate appointment with the Hokage , and inform her of the events from last night.

"That's good news. I've also been keeping a closer eye on Danzo since you mentioned he reminded you of that Aizen guy from that Las Noches place and didn't trust him when it came to Naruto. If the old war hawk so much as sneezes into his sake' I'll know about it," said Tsunade, as she hadn't found much in the last two years about Danzo's activities due to the man keeping things tight lipped, and the only thing considered of movement in the last two years by the old bastard was sending several messages to the Fire Daimyo.

"Thank you. Hopefully, Naruto will bond with his zanpakuto, and know its name so he can begin the next stage of his training," said Tia, as she saw Tsunade nodding, and then lean back in her chair.

"So what will happen now with Naruto?" said Tsunade, as she knew that the boy would still have a difficult time controlling his chakra, and now his spirit energy due to what was sealed inside of him.

"I don't know. From what I can tell, the Kyuubi has become his zanpakuto, but the sword itself looks like the one Grimmjow was defeated with back in Las Noches at the hands of a Vizard he fought prior to his death, and could also have the same name," said Tia, as she saw Tsunade's eyebrow go up, and lean forward on her desk.

"So the name Kyuubi could be just a title now more then anything? Great!" said Tsunade sarcastically, as she decided to have Hiashi use his Byakugan to see into chakra network to see how much of the fox's power was still inside of Naruto, and see if he could find out how much was in the sword.

"Right now, Naruto is getting use to the weapon in his hands, and Grimmjow is making sure he didn't hurt himself with it," said Tia, as she saw Naruto carefully holding the blade, and found it to be very light before she left to see the Hokage.

"I'm a little surprised the little gaki would want to begin training right away after such a painful ordeal," said Tsunade, as she could sense the woman in front of her was smiling with a sense of pride at the fact her adopted son was pushing himself so hard, and had a hand in making Naruto the way he was now.

"That's just the way he is and I wouldn't have it any other way," said Tia, as she adored her adopted son more then she ever thought possible, and her heart would always beat slightly faster every time Naruto called her Mother.

"Well just don't overtax him. The boy's a juggernaut just like his biological Father and his real Mother wasn't a slacker either but even they had limits," said Tsunade, as she remembered Kushina being so energetic, and wanting to do so much with Minato right behind her trying to keep the crazy redhead out of trouble..

Which got them stuck in the hospital with _her_ being stuck to healing them up soon after.

"I'll keep that in mind," said Tia, as she left the room, and headed back to the house to see Naruto's progress.

(Konoha Academy-Two Years Later)

Naruto was wearing black pants with a white stripe running down the legs, a white t-shirt, and a long sleeved black one over it while he walked towards his classroom for the final test needed to graduate. The blonde boy was feeling pretty good about himself, as he had his trusty zanpakuto strapped to his back wrapped in white bandages that kept it from cutting up anyone around him, and had the sword angled in a way that it wouldn't drag on the ground. Once a short malnourished kid, who had the Kyuubi inside of him, the blonde was now a much _taller_, and _healthier_ kid about to become a Shinobi of the Leaf. It had been two long years since Naruto got his zanpakuto out of his stomach, but the sword was not being so cooperative like the blonde wished, and found that to be disheartening. Apparently, the spirit that was the inner manifestation of the zanpakuto had tried to tell Naruto its name, but the boy just could not hear it, and made the former Kyuubi vessel irritated on the reason behind it.

(Flashback-Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto walked through his head seeing nothing around him at first before he saw a it suddenly manifest itself into Konoha in his mind, but was sideways, and found himself standing on a horizontal Hokage Tower. It frightened Naruto at first since he thought his mind had gone crazy or something since neither of his parents mentioned anything like this when they learned the names of their zanpakutos.

'Okay. No more sneaking in ramen before bedtime,' thought Naruto, as he saw everything was all horizontal from his position, and tried to make sure he didn't fall over the edge.

_**"Relax. You're safe regardless of how everything looks around you,"**_ said a deep calm voice to Naruto's right.

"Who are you?" said Naruto walking towards the figure with dark wavy hair, see-through glasses, and had some peach fuzz for a beard on his face while wearing a crimson black coat that moved unnaturally in a wind that wasn't there.

_**"You don't recognize me? Then again, I guess being over a 100 feet tall with red fur, and nine tails leaves more of an impression then this form does,"**_ said the figure, as he saw Naruto look at him shocked, and then in fear since he clearly knew who was talking to him.

"Kyuubi!" said Naruto, as he was now fearful due to the fact the figure was the demon fox, and didn't have any kind of restraints on him.

_**"By title only. That's not my name now that I'm your zanpakuto. As to why I'm not restrained at the moment, its because I live within your zanpakuto rather then inside of you, and yet I'm still connected to your body regardless of that fact with no means to place harm upon your person,"**_ said the fox seeing the boy calm down at this news.

"That's good to hear. I think. Um...you said the name Kyuubi was a title, right? What _is_ your name now that you're my zanpakuto?" said Naruto, as he saw the fox smirk at him, and then try to tell the blonde his name though all the boy could hear was silence.

_**"Judging by your frown, it seems you cannot not hear my name yet, and are not ready to hear it until the time is right," **_said the fox, as he saw Naruto frown, and get angry at this news.

"What do you mean not ready? How will I know I'm ready to hear your name? How do I earn the ability to know it?" said Naruto, as he saw the fox shake his head, and smile at him slightly.

_**"When the time is right Naruto, you **__**will**__** wish to know my name when it matters most, and when that happens I will tell it to you. I wish you luck,"**_ said the fox before gently pushing the blonde out of his mindscape and into the real world.

'Damn! Well this won't stop me. I _will_ learn your name fox. Count on it!' thought Naruto, as he stared at his zanpakuto in his lap, and almost heard the chuckle from the fur ball in the process.

It was a challenge set by the fox and Naruto was going to complete it.

(End Flashback)

As the two years progressed, Naruto learned a lot from the fox despite not knowing his damn name, and wished he could call him something other then Kyuubi since titles didn't count in being a name for a zanpakuto. Grimmjow said that sometimes, a zanpakuto can only be heard by the user during a moment of importance that is thrown at the user of the sword, and when the time was right, Naruto would hear the zanpakuto's name, and speak it when that moment arrived.

He just needed to be patient.

_**"Why do you still bring me to your classes Naruto? That one girl with the mouse like hair, who was pestering you about me has already graduated, and on her own Genin team,"**_ said the fox, as he was able to communicate with Naruto like this, and felt it was pointless of the blonde to carry him to these boring lectures.

'I know! But you're my zanpakuto and wherever I go in life you go too,' thought Naruto, as he remembered how Tenten was gushing at the sight of his blade, and wanted to hold it though the blonde had warned her that it wouldn't let her since it was a living sword.

It confused Tenten greatly since she never heard of such a thing, but Naruto explained further that it was part of his bloodline, she understood since abilities of bloodline users could only be used by said person. Sasuke was livid at this news, demanding that the boy show him how to acquire such a weapon, and go on about how Naruto's bloodline was weak unless in the hands of an _elite_ Uchiha.

Many were surprised when Naruto actually said he would gladly "teach" Sasuke a lesson in _private _though what that lesson _was_, the blonde didn't specify at all, and the Uchiha's own arrogance prevented him from knowing.

Though it didn't take long to know, as the said "elite Uchiha" of the class was soon found afterwards outside the school hanging from a flagpole in his underwear, and his clothes currently on fire at the base of the pole. Of course since this happened so fast without anyone seeing it, no one could say it was Naruto, except Sasuke himself of course, but the boy would _never_ admit someone like the blonde did that to him.

Needless to say, it was quite some lesson, and not one Sasuke would soon forget.

_**"True. Are you excited about graduating today with your friends?" **_said the fox, as he could feel Naruto's happiness, and knew the boy's answer before he even said it.

'Do you even have to ask? I just hope I get a team that isn't a pain in my ass. You know the Councils were bitching to my Godmother about how strong I was becoming and that I was leaving the Uchiha in the dust. If things had been in reverse, they would have praised the bastard, and said 'he's just like his brother' or some shit,' thought Naruto, as he could sense the fox nodding in agreement, and the hidden anger at the Uchiha Clan.

_**"Chances are they will want the teams put together in a way that will put the Uchiha on your team so he can learn what you know after gaining his Sharingan. The only question now upon that possibility is **__**who**__** is the third member of your team?"**_ said the fox, as he hoped it wasn't that pink haired Uchiha loving fan girl named Haruno Sakura, or her "rival" Ami also being a Sasuke fan girl with an even meaner streak in terms of bossing others around.

'Joy is me,' thought Naruto, as he just hoped the Jounin sensei was descent, and not some weird person like Lee got last year with the strange eyebrows.

With that being said within his mind, Naruto entered his classroom, and waited for Iruka to come in with _Mizuki_ of all people while sitting down next to Hinata with the girl now blushing cherry red from the close proximity. Naruto didn't know Hinata had a crush on him when they first met after he got his adopted parents four years ago, as he was new to the whole "getting affection" from others, and always had his guard up in the even that the friend was a wolf in sheep's clothing. However, Hinata's friendship to him stayed true, and learned later on that the Hyuuga girl possibly liked him more then just friends due to his Father saying it to his face when the boy asked his Mother with the male Arrancar overhearing it.

Tia punched Grimmjow right out of the house for that, which was funny in itself at the time, and then the boy's Mother set him down for a heart to heart talk about relationships. The female Arrancar didn't know much about them due to her own limited experience, but she did tell Naruto that he shouldn't be afraid to explore such feelings with the girl in question, and to see if he wished to return the feelings given to him. It of course was all really confusing to Naruto, even with his adopted Mother's help so the boy searched for another source of information in terms of his Godmother, who despite Shizune's secret hand waving motions to the spiky blonde to tell him not seek the Hokage's advice, got advice on women, and a whole lot of things that didn't make sense.

Possibly because the Hokage had been drinking a bit of sake' after finishing all of her paperwork that afternoon.

Shizune, who was possibly the _best_ so far in terms of this matter had talked to Naruto in private to find out if Hinata really liked him more then a friend, and asked him if he felt the same way? The boy wasn't sure, as he never really knew anything about crushes, first loves, and what his Godmother Tsunade called amongst her drunken stupor to be "friends with benefits" with Shizune telling Naruto to forget that for now until he was much more mature. Instead, Shizune had told Naruto not to turn her away, but instead see if he did feel the same way about Hinata in return, and list all her positive qualities that could make him possibly return such feelings.

That was about a year ago and Naruto could honestly say he liked Hinata a lot! In terms of more then a friend? The blonde wasn't sure, but he suspected that his feelings did go beyond that of friendship after he felt an anger in him when Inuzuka Kiba came along asking Hinata out one day, and it made Naruto want to slice the teme into little pieces before shipping him home to his Mother to use as dog food.

If it was more then friendship, Naruto wasn't going to let it pass him by, and was going to return Hinata's affection anyway he could.

"Good luck in the test Naruto-kun," said Hinata in a whispery voice, but not in such a stuttering way like it was when they were eight years old, and on the swings.

"Good luck to you too Hinata-chan. Though with skills like yours you don't really need it. If anything, luck needs _you_ to make luck possible for anyone who needs it, and I just so happened to be right next to a regular luck making factory!" said Naruto, as he saw have a thumbs up, and Hinata blushed deepened before passing out.

"You're troublesome Naruto," said Shikamaru, as he saw the whole thing from where he was, and saw the boy grinning back in a fox like way.

"Says the kid, who sleeps in class, watches clouds all day, and is afraid of his Mother even when she's not visited by her 'Aunt Flow' every so often," said Naruto, as he saw Shikamaru shiver in fear at the last part, and laughed at the lazy boy's reaction.

"That's not funny Naruto," said Shikamaru, as he remembered the last time he walked in on his Mother cooking, and she was in one of her _moods_.

He barely dodged the kitchen knife thrown to at his face that almost took off his ear.

'It is to me,' thought Naruto, as he saw the two teachers come in, and frowned at Mizuki currently greeting them with a fake smile on his face.

"Okay class. We'll begin with the final graduation test shortly. Your name will be called one by one while waiting outside the classroom to see if you can do the standard exam required to graduate," said Iruka, as he saw the students look eager to graduate, and the horizontally scarred in the face wondered how many would be back again next year.

Hopefully not too many.

(Naruto's Turn)

The blonde walked into the classroom with confidence in each step he took, as a new day would come after this one, where the name Namikaze would rise again, and give Naruto the chance to make his birth parents proud. Tsunade had told him that he had to wait until after graduating, which in Naruto's mind really sucked, but understood the reason, and accepted with great reluctance the need to wait until that time.

Fortunately, the time was nearly upon him, and not soon enough in Naruto's mind.

'Is it just me or is Mizuki looking like he wants to rip my guts out of my body?' thought Naruto, as he saw Mizuki, and Iruka looking at him with the latter telling him to perform the standard Jutsus to pass.

_**"It's Mizuki looking like he wants to rip your guts out of your body,"**_ said the fox while Naruto physically performed the henge, substitution, and then seven Shadow Clone Jutsu to replace the normal Clone Jutsu requirement.

'I thought so. Better be careful of that one,' thought Naruto, as he saw the flash of anger on Mizuki's face at him passing the test, and took the headband Iruka gave him before tying it to his head.

With his task of graduating done, Naruto walked out with his friends to be greeted by their parents, who all awaited the good news of seeing their sons, and daughters become the future of the Leaf. Among them were Naruto's adopted parents, who knew the blonde would pass the graduation exam without question, and both had smiles on their faces.

Despite the whispers from _several_ parents seeing that Naruto had graduated and were looking at the three of them in disgust.

"Look. The _thing_ actually graduated," said one Mother angrily while talking to another.

"I can't believe we can't even give so much as a hint to what he holds. The new Hokage's zero tolerance policy on it has been taking down people left and right because they were among the brave ones that chose to defy the law the Sandaime set. If _I_ was Hokage, I'd order the death of that _creature_, and...," said the second woman, but was silenced when Naruto looked in their direction, and glared in a manner that told them both shut their mouths.

"Some people never learn," said Naruto to his parents.

"I'm just glad you graduated gaki. Now you're legally an adult and we can all celebrate by getting hammered!" said Grimmjow, as he saw Tia had a tick mark appear, and Naruto shaking his head no.

"Thanks Dad, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet, and even if I was...something tells me you'd get hammered to cover us both," said Naruto, as he saw Grimmjow laughing a hearty laugh, and made some of the parents jump in fear since they knew that the former Espada had already made himself notorious in the village when it came to the arrogant fools that tried to defy the zero tolerance policy.

A Cero to a crowd of bigots on Naruto's birthday tends to do that.

"Yeah. We'll wait a few years for that moment," said Grimmjow, as he saw Hiashi was with Hinata, and Hanabi beside the Clan Head to see his eldest graduate second only to Naruto.

Still, Hinata was _the_ best kunoichi of her entire class, and that was for the moment good enough for Hiashi since there were many Clan Heirs in the girl's class this year.

"You have done well Hinata. Hanabi, I want you to look upon your sister, and strive to be strong like her," said Hiashi, as he saw Hanabi nodding, and trying to hide the feeling of dread that would one day come with the Elders demanding the two eventually duel in a battle to decide their fate within the Hyuuga Clan.

"Thank you Father. I will do what I can to prove my worth within the clan," said Hinata though she looked at poor Hanabi that told the younger of the two sisters that she had no intention of branding the girl with the Cage Bird Seal.

Looking to her right, Hinata saw Naruto along with his parents walking over to them, and had to keep the shyness she felt when near him at bay. Not only that, but Hinata had to fight the color that wanted to come to her cheeks when the wind blew by, which revealed Naruto's muscles behind his loose black shirt, and with the white one that seemed to stick to them.

It took _all_ of Hinata's inner strength _not_ to get a nosebleed _or_ let out a perverted giggle that would have made Jiraiya proud.

"Isn't this a kick ass day for both our families or what?" said Grimmjow, as he saw the youngest of the two girls hide behind their Father's back in fear, and Hinata just smiled at him before looking at Naruto.

"Yes it is indeed a good day for both of us as parents. You did an incredible job in your son's training," said Hiashi, as he was still afraid of them, but even still the Hyuuga Head also respected them, and the blonde for what had been accomplished in just four years.

"Yep! A chip off the old block," said Grimmjow, who got a elbow, and glare from Tia in regards to that statement since she raised him too.

"Yes. From _both _of us," said Tia, as she saw Mizuki off to the side talking to one of the boys in Naruto's class, who _didn't_ pass the graduation exam, and it was clear the boy was really interested in what the teacher had to say.

"Whatever. Come on gaki. Its time to go home and celebrate! You can play with your girlfriend later," said Grimmjow, as he saw Hinata having a full face blush, and Naruto doing the same while glaring at him for saying that.

(Later that Night)

Mizuki smiled evilly at his brilliant achievement in fooling that dumb kid into taking the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, as he just lied to the brat about it being a top secret exam, and given to only those with the greatest kind of potential in being a Shinobi of the Leaf. Oh, how the boy was practically frothing at the mouth when he said that, and how the kid followed the notion without question.

'After all, how is a mere dumbass kid going to question a teacher's actions regarding a 'secret exam', and see it for what it really is? Well...except the Hokage of course, but what that bitch doesn't know...won't hurt me!' thought Mizuki, as he told the kid to wait in this particular spot for awhile since the Hokage was no doubt telling every high ranked Shinobi to look everywhere for the scroll, and the culprit behind the thievery.

"Hello Mizuki-teme!" said Naruto from behind the so called teacher and scaring the man right out of his hiding spot.

"You! What are you doing here demon brat?" said Mizuki, as he saw Naruto grinning at him, and knew it wasn't a goof thing that the boy was here.

"Funny. I was actually wondering the same thing about you! As it turns out, the kid you talked into getting the scroll got caught, and spilled his guts at the first sign of the Hokage cracking her knuckles before she beat the info out of him. So during that time, we made it appear that the kid was successful, and took the scroll knowing that his instigator would come out eventually during the chaos of the search to be..._caught_!" said Naruto, as he saw Mizuki look at him in surprise, then leap from the trees to the grass, and tried to make a break for it before Naruto appeared in front of the traitor.

Within moments, several Shinobi surrounded them, and weapons were drawn.

"So the big bad demon is actually using his brain for once. Perhaps you also know _why_ you are hated by everyone in the village? Why these Shinobi would sooner attack you and let me go free while they become the _heroes_ of the Leaf for ending your miserable existence," said Mizuki, as he knew several of these Shinobi, and knew they hated the damn brat for what he held.

"If you're referring to the Kyuubi, then yes I do know of him, but sadly I don't know his true name, just his title really, and that I wish I did since he's being a pain in the ass about it," said Naruto, as he saw Mizuki frown at him, and so did the other Shinobi too since they didn't understand what the boy was talking about.

"Don't try to hide it. _You_ are Kyuubi! _You_ attacked the Leaf twelve years ago and now _you_ are going to die!" said Mizuki, as he saw the Leaf Shinobi around him look at the blonde, and grinned at how this worked out for him.

"Oh really?" said Naruto, as he look around to see the Leaf Shinobi around him were now all getting ready to fight him, _instead_ of going after Mizuki, and sighed at this new turn of events.

"Yes really! That bitch maybe Hokage, but she will _never_ be able to remove the village's desire to spill your blood demon! Even if she has the backing of those two freaks that are your adopted parents, the village will never care about you, and will see to it that your life ends one way or another at their hands!" said Mizuki, as he pulled out a kunai, and was pleased that this situation was in his favor.

"How troublesome. I guess were doing this the hard way then. It was bound to happen eventually," said Naruto, as he unwrapped his zanpakuto, and saw the looks of surprise along with some of the Shinobi around him smirking at the thought of the boy wielding such a weapon like an expert being ridiculous.

"Kill him and hurry! If we take too long the Hokage will suspect something and that will spell doom for all of us," said the Jounin leading the group before his comrades charged in with their own weapons.

"You're already dead. You just don't know it," said Naruto, as he was gone in an instant, and appeared behind the Jounin leading the squad before the man's head fell off onto the ground.

"Don't just stand there looking like fish with your mouths open! Kill the fucking demon!" said Mizuki, as he brought out a small container of purple liquid given to him by one Orochimaru of the Sannin, and drank its contents down in one simple movement.

Naruto cut through them easily enough, which was in no part due to the Shinobi in front of him underestimating his strength, and skill with his zanpakuto because of his age. That changed soon after the first two fell at his hands with the use of his weapon and the other Shinobi around him began making hand signs before launching various Jutsus at him. Naruto easily dodged them of course, as well as slicing one Fire Jutsu in half with the wave of energy he shot out of his zanpakuto cutting the Leaf Shinobi in half.

Unfortunately, while this was happening, Mizuki was using this time to transform into something sinister, as he felt the power Orochimaru had granted him spreading through his body, and began laughing when the effects became physical. This brought the Shinobi fighting Naruto and the boy himself away from their fight to focus on the hideous thing that the traitor had become.

'Aw crap,' thought Naruto, as he leaped out of the way of the deformed Mizuki, who was no longer thinking rationally, and attacked everything in sight with his pale face with red glowing eyes with his skin now fully darkened like it was one big deformed bruise.

If Naruto didn't know any better, he would have suspected Mizuki had somehow turned himself into a deformed looking hollow, and was still incomplete in that regard. When Mizuki had finished with the Leaf Shinobi around him, the traitor turned his attention to Naruto, and narrowed his empty red eyes at the blonde.

_**"I'm going to enjoy ripping your intestines out of your body and devouring them,"**_ said Mizuki in a newly deformed voice and looking at Naruto with hunger in his eyes.

"You'll excuse me if I don't feel like offering up my organs for such a thing," said Naruto, as he prepared to fight this semi-hollow like creature, and saw Mizuki chuckle.

_**"I will kill you. Make no mistake on that. Besides, if I cannot get you, then that pretty Hyuuga girl will be a nice substitute, and I will be paid handsomely if taken straight to Kumo. After I get to have a little **__**fun**__** of course,"**_ said Mizuki, as he saw Naruto snarl at him, and angling the blade ready to strike.

"You're going to wish you hadn't said that teme!" said Naruto, as he moved forward with incredible speed, and sliced Mizuki's arm clean off with the man currently no longer a man letting out a demonic howling of pain.

_**"Bastard child! I'll butcher you for this,"**_ said Mizuki, as he sprouted a long tail during his spasm of pain, and the moment of surprise caught Naruto off guard just enough to be hit by it with enough force that it sent the boy flying into a nearby tree.

'Ow. That surprisingly hurt,' thought Naruto, as he got off the ground, and spat out some blood in his mouth.

Mizuki saw the boy was down before launching at Naruto with his still usable arm used his beyond human strength to temporarily pin the blonde to the tree while salivating at the mouth. For Naruto, this was an unexpected turn of events, as he didn't expect the bastard to be transformed into some kind of pseudo hollow mutation, and have the power to back him into a corner.

The only option Naruto could think of that could give him the needed strength to kill Mizuki outright would be to learn the name of his zanpakuto, but the damn fox kept saying that wasn't possible, and all because he wasn't ready.

How can he not be ready?

_**"So you want to know my name, do you?"**_ said the fox, as he pulled Naruto into the boy's mind, and stood before him seeing the blonde feeling pissed off that they were having this conversation _now_.

"Yeah! I would. Is that too much to ask? Why can't I learn it? I've treated you with respect, dignity, and friendship that if you realized was sacred to me. What is preventing me from learning your name?" said Naruto, as he saw the fox in his human form just stare at him, and wondered if the demon now zanpakuto was going to kick him out of his mind for this.

_**"If you wish to learn my name Naruto, then you must first learn to abandon your fear locked away in your heart,"**_ said the fox, as he saw Naruto frown, and it was clear the blonde didn't understand.

"What fear? There is no fear in my heart?" said Naruto before he was blown back into a wall of his mind by the fox now clearly losing his patience with the boy.

_**"You know the fear I speak of! Don't deny it isn't there for I have seen it myself. The fear of losing those close to your heart because the power you have is not enough! The fear that they will die when you could have saved them had you been by there side! The fear that you will die alone because all those close to your heart will die beforehand!"**_ said the fox, as he saw Naruto look away with a flinch, and knew that he had hit home.

"So what do I do? Tell me!" said Naruto, as he wanted to be strong for those close to his heart, and protect them when they couldn't protect themselves.

_**"Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate," **_said the fox, as he saw Naruto close his eyes, and look deep within himself.

'I must remove all fear. All hesitation. I must look to the future,' thought Naruto, as he opened his eyes, and saw the fox in front of him before giving the spirit that was his zanpakuto a nod.

_**"Then rise up Namikaze Naruto. Rise up with my power to aid you in fighting against your enemies that await you and speak my name!"**_ said the fox, as he spoke his name to Naruto, and the blonde nodded his head.

He heard the zanpakuto's name and his name was...

_**"Anything to say before you die Kyuubi brat?"**_ said Mizuki ready to devour the boy's head in an instant.

"Yeah. I do want to say one word. Though its more like a name really. _Zangetsu_!" said Naruto, as he felt his power spike suddenly, and shot out a blast of spirit energy from his zanpakuto that obliterated the disfigured man turned into a mutated hollow looking thing from existence.

"Naruto!" said Tsunade, as she appeared moments later to see the blonde slumped against the tree grinning, and giving her a thumbs up a mission complete.

"Its all right Godmother. Everything under control _and_ as an added bonus I even learned the name of my zanpakuto," said Naruto, as he saw the woman walk over to him, and give him a once over before hugging him.

"I'm sorry that ambush on Mizuki went south on you. I thought the Shinobi I sent to back you up were not among those other arrogant bakas in the village," said Tsunade, as she would be more careful next time, and see to it that Naruto got backup from people he could trust.

"I know. Let's get back to your office and I can give you a full report," said Naruto, as he was sure to give his Godmother something to read long after this was over, and make sure that it was kept away from the eyes of those on the Councils.

Naruto only hoped that his team was less painful then this mission.

(A/N: YAY! I updated. I couldn't believe how many people loved this fic. Now here's a problem I have right now, as I wasn't sure how to work this with the team selection since he's going to be teamed with Sasuke, and Sakura (yeah I know boo me all you want) for Team 7. However, I don't know if I should have Kakashi be a jerk, or not to Naruto? Let me know. Until next time...PEACE!)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4-Team 7 and Wave Country

To say Naruto's parents were pissed was an understatement, as they learned about their son being backstabbed by the Shinobi of this village, and all because of their bigotry. It made them want to used a Cero on the Leaf and watch it burn down to the ground with all the people in it! However, their anger turned to surprise when Naruto told them what had happened with Mizuki and the man becoming like some kind of hollow after drinking something if the small glass container the traitor had dropped was any indication.

For Tsunade, she knew this was the work of her old teammate Orochimaru, who she told the trio was a traitor to the Leaf, and had a grudge against it because the Sandaime chose Naruto's Father to be the Yondaime Hokage. Naruto wondered why the Sandaime had done so little against the traitor when it was clear the Sannin was guilty and needed to be punished. Tsunade had to explain to Naruto that Orochimaru was the Sandaime's favorite student when the old Kage was her team's sensei and acquired an emotional attachment to the pale snake man.

It would be as if the Sandaime killed his own son.

Fortunately, Tsunade had no such connection to Orochimaru on any level just like she did with Jiraiya since both betrayed her, and would sooner punch the snake Sannin head off.

As for the team placements, Naruto was told he had to wait until Monday to find out who he was teamed up with, and to be patient regardless of the possible outcome. Naruto did not like the sound of that, but knew he would have to suck it up for now, and just have to go with the flow of things until he eventually became Chuunin.

(Uchiha District-Sasuke's Home)

"You seem upset Sasuke-kun," said Uchiha Mikoto, as she saw her son scowling about something, and looked at Itachi in the kitchen eating an apple peacefully for an answer.

"Apparently, there is a rumor going around that one of the kids in Sasuke's class took down an instructor turned traitor named Mizuki, and prevented the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing get taken away," said Itachi casually, as he knew who it was, and why it made Sasuke so mad.

"Who was it?" said Mikoto, as she saw Sasuke's scowl deepen, and saw the anger in her son's face.

"_Uzumaki_ _Naruto_," said Sasuke hatefully, as he saw his Mother look at him in surprise, and then at Itachi nodding his head in agreement.

"Really?" said Mikoto, as she herself had no problem with the blonde boy despite her late husband's opposite belief in Naruto being a monster in human skin, and should be put to death.

"Yes. The boy did surprisingly well, but given the extensive training Naruto-kun has done in the last four years is not really surprising, and is no doubt stronger then even I can imagine," said Itachi, as he saw his little brother getting angrier because of his words, and it was clear Sasuke was jealous of the fact Naruto was getting praise from the Uchiha Clan Head.

"Well, I'm sure Sasuke-kun could have done the job too if given the chance," said Mikoto in a way to keep Sasuke's anger from boiling over.

"No. Sasuke-kun still has a long way to go before he is ready for anything like that. He is still very weak," said Itachi simply before leaving to take care of clan related business and ignoring the death glare from his little brother.

'I'll show him!' thought Sasuke, as he had also been hearing that in the form of whispers from the rest of the Uchiha Clan, and it was burning him up inside that he was labeled as "Uchiha Fugaku's Runt" of all things.

He'd show them all.

(Shinobi Academy-Team Announcements)

"Okay everyone listen up! I have here the list of the Genin teams that will be assigned to a individual Jounin senseis, who will continue training you until from here on out, and hopefully make sure you don't get into too much trouble," said Iruka, as he glared at some of his students that made him feel a few years older then he should, and those said kids were now whistling innocently like they didn't know what he was talking about.

"Good luck Naruto-kun," said Hinata, as she sat beside him, and the blonde smiled at her.

"You too Hinata-chan. Even if we don't become teammates, its doesn't mean we can't still see each other outside of our Shinobi duties, and hang out together," said Naruto, as he knew that he may, or may not be teamed with Hinata since there were so many kids their age graduating.

"I would like that," said Hinata, as she knew just as Naruto did, the chances of being on his team were slim, and while it was depressing it didn't mean they couldn't interact with the other outside of their Shinobi duties.

"Okay Team 7, your group will consist of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzum-oh I'm sorry _Namikaze _Naruto with your sensei being Hatake Kakashi!" said Iruka, as he with many of the kids in the room looking at the blonde with shock, and Sasuke looking at him now with intense anger.

"Namikaze! You're the son of the Yondaime? Why didn't you tell us?" said Ino, as she knew her parents were good friends with the man, and knew he was the last one of his clan until now.

"I couldn't! The Hokage said I had to wait until I graduated and that was four years ago after _I_ learned the truth," said Naruto, as he saw various Uchiha fan girls now have hearts in their eyes, and inwardly groaned knowing he now had to deal with that.

Beside him, Hinata was glaring at the girls, and her inner self having a cat like face with claws while hissing at them all.

"Quiet! As I was saying before being so rudely interrupted, Team 8 will be consisting of Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata with your Jounin sensei being Yuhi Kurenai," said Iruka, as he saw the downcast look Hinata had, and how Naruto comforted her much to the girl's joy.

Kiba was happy with being on Hinata's team, but didn't like how Naruto was comforting the Hyuuga Heiress, and growled from his position at the Namikaze. Shino was quiet, as he eyed Hinata from his position, and silently weighed everything in a logical sense.

'My Hyuuga teammate likes the Namikaze, but my Inuzuka teammate wishes it was he, not the Namikaze getting her affection, and will no doubt try to take it by any means necessary. I must make sure my male teammate doesn't do anything...rash,' thought Shino while seeing the Hyuuga girl loving her close contact with the Namikaze and the Inuzuka looking ready to leap from his seat to tear the blonde apart.

"All right! Team 9 is in circulation so that leaves Team 10. Team 10, you will consist of Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Yamanaka Ino with your Jounin sensei with be Sarutobi Asuma. Please wait for your Jounin sensei to arrive so you can have your first among many team meetings," said Iruka, as he heard Ino shot out how she didn't want to be stuck with either of her teammates due to their natural habits that their own families were known for.

At least the revealing of Naruto being a Namikaze had saved him from Haruno Sakura's banshee shrieks of joy for being teamed with Uchiha Sasuke.

So with his piece said to the group of newly minted Genin, Iruka left the room so the various Jounin senseis could come pick up their teams, and have them keep all the little troublemakers in line. As they waited, the Jounin senseis came in one at a time to pick up their teams until only Team 7 remained, and was starting to upset the trio while they all waited.

Not surprising since they were waiting for what was..._3 hours_!

"Where is this guy?" said Sakura, as she was getting pissed, and her inner self wasn't fairing much better.

"How do you know it's even a guy? It could be a female Shinobi," said Naruto, as he had his feet up on the desk while half asleep, and contemplated leaving in the next couple of minutes.

"Shut up you baka! Women are never late for anything!" said Sakura, as she would have punched the boy in the head if not for the fact Naruto was now glaring at her, and using the very bored looking face his Father gave someone before killing them in a very gory fashion with a Cero.

"Tell me to shut up again and I'll tear you in half like a phone book. Also, don't act like women are never late for anything just because you're of the same gender, and think you are above approach. Women can be just as stupid as men when it comes to things and to you know it," said Naruto, as he looked away from Sakura to the clock in the room, and then let out a yawn before getting up to head to the door.

"Where are you going?" said Sakura, as she along with Sasuke now looked at him, and the blonde haired boy stopped at the door before looking back.

"I've been waiting here for several hours waiting for this guy and I have to take a piss with a side of crapping. You can continue to wait here or you can come with me to the bathroom to see my junk while I drain my internal waste pool. Interested?" said Naruto, as he saw Sakura blush, and began yelling at him for saying something so sick while the blonde just ignored her rants.

In truth though, Naruto had no intention of waiting after he went to the bathroom, and decided to leave after taking care of his _internal _business.

(Sometime Later)

Hatake Kakashi stepped into the classroom to find two of his students there waiting for him, which made him curious to the whereabouts of his missing third student, and it was clear that the current two were so angry about his tardiness to care. Not surprising really when he considered the past actions of the previous teams that waited and how they left without waiting more then an after hour after the initial meeting time the other Jounin senseis came to pick their students up.

The waiting in itself had helped fail _three_ of the teams in the past he had been assigned to pass.

"Hi! I'm Hatake Kakashi, I'm looking for Team 7? Where's your third teammate?" said Kakashi, as he hoped they knew, and saw Sasuke shrug uncaringly while Sakura was red in the face with anger at remembering Naruto's words.

"That baka said he had to go to the bathroom," said Sakura though she couldn't remember how long ago that was.

"Oh! Well, I'll just leave a note on the board for when he gets back, and we can just meet on the roof to wait for him," said Kakashi, as he left a note on the chalkboard, and the three went up to the roof.

'I can't wait for that baka to get yelled at later,' thought Sakura, as she could just imagine what it would be like to yell at the Namikaze, and teach the blonde a lesson.

And they waited.

And waited.

_And _waited.

"O-kay. I guess our third member not coming to our group meeting," said Kakashi, as he wondered if this how it felt for his previous teams to wait on someone else, and for a long time at that.

"We don't need him. You have me. I'm worth a hundred of that loser," said Sasuke, as he saw Sakura agreeing with him, and Kakashi in deep thought.

"As much as your confidence in your skills is reassuring Sasuke, I think it would be best if _all_ of Team 7 were here, and we could do this properly. I'll seek him out and you two stay here until we get back," said Kakashi, as he left them on the roof, and went to find the lost Genin of their squad.

With that done, Kakashi went looking for his missing Genin, and wondered why the boy wasn't around to be waiting with the rest of his team? It was possible the boy just gave up in being a Shinobi if it meant waiting for a tardy sensei or the boy got ambushed while going to the bathroom by some bigots that the Son of the White Fang knew hated the boy.

Hoping it wasn't either possibility, but rather a third more _positive_ theory, Kakashi moved through Konoha to Naruto's known haunts, which were still very few due to the village still not being very receptive of the boy, and finally found him at the little family owned ramen stand. The boy was there, eating ramen casually, and clearly bored from what the blonde's face was any indication.

"So you finally gave up waiting and looked for me. Took you long enough," said Naruto in a bored voice while pausing in his eating to look back Kakashi.

"You should really be with your Genin team since were about to introduce ourselves," said Kakashi, as he saw Naruto finish his bowel, pay for it, and then get off the stool before turning to face him with a bored yet serious look on his face.

"What team? What sensei? I have neither because both of my so called my teammates hate me and my Jounin sensei would prefer to be late rather then on time. So until then, I am my own Shinobi, and I won't take advice from a sensei who can't even show up on time," said Naruto, as he walked away, and Kakashi appeared in front of him with a serious look on his face.

"Regardless, if you don't come back with me, I'll have to disqualify your team, and you will be sent back to the Academy," said Kakashi, as he saw Naruto's eyes narrow slightly, and had a dangerous look about them.

"Go for it. Go to the Hokage and tell her you disqualified your team because one decided to leave due to being fed up with your tardiness. I'm sure the Hokage loved to hear the reason behind it before stomping your one eyed ass," said Naruto, as he saw the Jounin looking wide eyed at him, and acting a bit nervous at the idea.

"Well...when you put it like that...," said Kakashi, as he was laughing nervously, and saw his student was not impressed.

"If you want me to take you seriously _at all_, then I suggest you don't be tardy to Genin meetings, and actually make an effort to teach your Genin something. If not...well I suppose I could just get some training from Maito Gai and tell him how incompetent you are in teaching," said Naruto causally," said Naruto, as he saw Kakashi's eye bug out of his socket, and then fell to his knees before begging the blonde not to do that.

Sad really.

"Don't tell Gai. I'll never hear the end of it. He'll go on day after day about my inability to teach, crying while doing it, and even force me into one of his..._hugs_!" said Kakashi, as he was crying now, and didn't want to be exposed to that torture.

"Get off the ground you jackass. I won't go see Maito Gai, _but_ if you are late even _once_ for a Genin team meeting...I'll see to it you are stuck wearing green spandex for a whole year, and have plenty of pictures of it to show Gai," said Naruto, as he saw Kakashi look at him in horror at the idea, and nodding his head vigorously.

"Okay! Okay! You win. No being late for meetings. Got it!" said Kakashi, as he knew that this kid would live up to his word, and knew how Naruto would live up to his threat of putting the Jounin in green spandex.

"Good. Because if I don't kick your ass for being late, then the Hokage will, and she's got a mean leg for it. Just ask Jiraiya of the Sannin," said Naruto, as he turned around to head back to the Academy, and Kakashi right behind him now.

"Will do. Now, let's meet your teammates on the roof, and pretend this talk here never happened," said Kakashi, as he ignored the people that looked at him like he was crazy with his antics earlier, and whistled happily like nothing happened.

'He's weird,' thought Naruto, as he used his Flash Step ability with Kakashi to the roof, and saw his teammates being their usual self.

Meaning Sasuke was trying to keep Sakura off of him and away from his pants.

"Okay! Now we're all here, we can get started, and introduce ourselves!" said Kakashi in a happy voice though his students looked less then happy right now.

So with that in mind, Kakashi began with introducing himself vaguely to his team, and then they all did it themselves. Sasuke was broody with a dislike for Naruto, Sakura was a fan girl, who loved Sasuke, and equally hated Naruto for being...well Naruto! As for the blonde himself, he didn't really care for either of his teammates, his tardy sensei, and the only thing he liked was being around his loved ones.

All in all it was one screwed up group and Kakashi doubted the bell test would not turn out well for him tomorrow.

(The Next Day)

Naruto arrived early that morning with a full stomach despite what his sensei _suggested_ the team do in terms of not eating or else they would throw up. He knew the other two would listen to their sensei, as they trusted the man to want to help them pass this test of Kakashi's, and didn't realize that such advice was the exact opposite of helping.

"Are we all here?" said Naruto, as he saw Sasuke, and Sakura along with their growling stomachs telling they listened to Kakashi.

"Yes. We are," said Kakashi, as he quickly checked his watch, and saw he had _just_ made it on time this morning.

The nightmarish premonition of him in green spandex being hugged by Gai while Naruto laughed at him in the distance with a clock above the blonde helped get him up early.

"Can we begin the test now?" said Naruto, as he saw Kakashi bring out a clock, and two bells in each hand.

"Of course. I have two bells that will stay at my waist. Its your job to get them from me before time runs out. The weakest link among you three will be tied to that training post until this is over," said Kakashi, as he saw the trio look at each other, and then back at him.

'This will be fun,' thought Naruto, as saw where this was going, and how this was going to end.

"Remember, come at me with the intent to kill, or you will never get either of the bells at my waist. Ready? GO!" said Kakashi, as he saw Sasuke, and Sakura head to the trees while Naruto just stood there looking bored.

"Do we really need to go through with this?" said Naruto with his arms crossed in a way his Arrancar of a Father did when he was bored.

"You're acting a bit arrogant if you ask me," said Kakashi, as he wondered what this kid had up his sleeve to make him be this way, and if the kid had even figured out the real reason behind the test.

"Not arrogance. Just confidence in my abilities. The only question I have for _you_ sensei is...are _you_ ready?" said Naruto, as he unsheathed his zanpakuto from his back, and now prepared to fight his sensei with all his parents taught him.

"That all depends on you Naruto," said Kakashi, as he brought out his perverted book to read, but the boy moved too fast for the Jounin to see, and stabbed the book right out of the man's hands.

"Take me seriously...or I'll kill you," said Naruto icily, as he was going to make sure this man understood the severity of the situation, and didn't take him too lightly.

'Something tells me I should take this seriously,' thought Kakashi, as he barely had time to let go of the book to save his hand, and leaped back before lifting up his slanted Leaf headband to reveal his Sharingan Eye.

Something that made two people curious and the third facing the Jounin slightly peeved at the sight of it.

"So you have one of _their _eyes huh? Typical. I ask my Godmother for a competent team and sensei I can work with. Look what I get for asking. An arrogant Uchiha, his most devoted of fan girls, who would rather find ways into his pants instead of training to be a Shinobi, and then a sensei with a Sharingan Eye in his head. No doubt the Councils saw fit to put us all together for _their _reasons _only_!" said Naruto, as saw Kakashi flinch, and knew he was right about it.

Of course Tsunade had tried to make sure that the teams be balance and move to have Naruto on Team 8 with Yuhi Kurenai. However, since announcing Naruto's heritage, the weekend gave the Councils means to argue that because Kakashi was the student of the late Yondaime Hokage, he could train Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke when his Sharingan developed during their training. Hinata would have been on the team, but the Civilian Councilman, who was Sakura's Father had wanted his daughter to be on the Uchiha team, and felt that having three Genin all from Clans would be overkill. That Sakura could help keep things balanced on Team 7 and the boy's in line should they start fighting.

Tsunade didn't believe that for a second, but couldn't argue against such a point knowing her being Naruto's Godmother could be used to question her impartiality. She had to give them some leeway for now and hoped it all worked out in the end.

"A problem with the Uchiha Clan I take it," said Kakashi, as he knew that was the case from the way both boys on the team acted, and clearly disliked the other.

"More or less. Now shut up and fight!" said Naruto, as he moved with incredible speed, and Kakashi had to leap out of the way of the horizontal slash aimed at his waist.

"I see you're taking the advice on coming at me with the intent to kill seriously," said Kakashi, as he managed to dodge multiple stabs thanks to his Sharingan, but in doing so had caused him to be pushed back against a tree, and had to use a substitution with a log to avoid being stabbed in the gut.

'Not really. He doesn't even know I've passed his test,' thought Naruto, as he vanished with Flash Step, and was seeking out the one of his teammates.

Like it or not, they were needed for the next part of this test if they were to pass the _right_ _way_, and become an official team.

Hiding in the forest around the training area, Sasuke along with Sakura were surprised by how Naruto was able to force their sensei's hand, and reveal the Jounin's trump card that very few get to see. Sakura was surprised by this while Sasuke was furious and made a mental note to talk to his family about Kakashi having a Sharingan Eye.

"We need to talk Uchiha," said Naruto, as he shocked Sasuke, and the arrogant child before the blonde mere snarled at him with a hand moved for a kunai.

"Why should we talk? I think killing you would be better in my opinion," said Sasuke, as he drew a kunai from his holster, but Naruto's zanpakuto had stabbed the tree behind the Uchiha, and the dark haired boy could see his reflection on the flat side of the large blade.

"Try it and I'll destroy you. I don't care what your clan tries to do. I don't care what the people in the village think of me if I turn your body into a blood smear. What I _do_ care about, is this Genin team passing long enough until the Chuunin Exams, which will get me promoted, and leave your arrogant ass in the dust. Now with that being said, the true _purpose_ of this test is _teamwork_, and for all _three_ of us to work together to get the bell from Kakashi," said Naruto, as he glared heavily at the Uchiha, but the boy scoffed at his reason, and the Namikaze was now tempted to cleave Sasuke's shoulder clean off.

"I don't need you or that worthless fan girl to get those bells. I'm an Uchiha! An _elite_!" said Sasuke, as he would have gone on ranting had Naruto not angled his zanpakuto so the slightest pull down would have sliced the Uchiha's arm off at the shoulder, and then the bell test would be cancelled.

"You're an arrogant child, who thinks he's better then everyone his age, and can't see anything else around him except his own ego. I don't need you to get the two bells either Uchiha, I just asked out of the decency of my own heart, and you shove it back at me due to your own clan's inbred arrogance. Cross me again like you planned to do seconds ago and I'll see to it that you _never_ be a Shinobi much less being classified as a _male_ ever again!" said Naruto, as he brought his zanpakuto out, and had the dull side of it rest on his shoulders before taking off to find Sakura.

While chances of her saying yes to helping him were slim, there was _one_ way Naruto could turn this around so even she had no choice, and work with him on this.

"You're sure? Why should I listen to you baka?" said Sakura, as she didn't trust the spiky blonde in front of her when he appeared, and asked for her help in taking down Kakashi.

"I'm the baka? Use that brain of yours for once outside of thinking about Sasuke. What rank is Kakashi?" said Naruto, as he knew the way to Sakura helping him was through the mind, and even then the chances were slim.

"A Jounin of course!" said Sakura.

"And what rank are you, Sasuke, and I?" said Naruto knowing that putting Sasuke in it would be the bait needed to spring the trap.

"We're Genin," said Sakura acting professional so far.

"Good. Now can a single Genin fresh out of the Academy, using only the basics taught at the Academy take on a Jounin, and the years of experience he's had over the years?" said Naruto knowing the answer and knowing that Sakura also knew the answer.

"No, but Sasuke-kun could...," said Sakura, but was silenced by Naruto's hand raised, and asked that he be shut up.

"Sasuke _aside_ in your fantasy world, can a Genin take down an experience Jounin?" said Naruto looking at the pink haired girl seriously.

"Again the answer is no. In fact, the only way for us to even possibly have a slim chance to take down someone at the level of Jounin like Kakashi-sensei would be for all three of us...to...act...together," said Sakura, as she understood what he was saying, and was not thinking like a simple Uchiha fan girl.

"Good. Now since I already asked Sasuke and he said no _that_ leaves just us to take him down," said Naruto, as he saw Sakura scowl at him, and wasn't surprised to see some of her fan girl side coming out again.

"But Sasuke-kun will be needed for this too," said Sakura, as she had just explained all that there was to this test, and was now wondering why Sasuke would turn down help.

"I already tried him first. He turned me down. In fact, the asshole doesn't want anything to do with either of us, and from what I just sensed the Uchiha is getting his ass kicked," said Naruto, as he heard the battle off in the distance, and it sounded like Kakashi was in complete control of the situation.

"Then we should help him!" said Sakura, which was true in the aspect of teamwork, but in truth the pink haired girl only did it to earn points with Sasuke, and not for the real reason that it should have been.

"Well wait until Sasuke's defeated. The Uchiha needs to learn humility that comes from his fall due to his arrogance and pride," said Naruto, as he leaped into the trees to the source of the battle, and Sakura running underneath him trying to catch up.

Key word _trying_.

When Naruto arrived, Sasuke was indeed getting his ass kicked by Kakashi, who had brought down his headband to conserve chakra since it didn't shut off naturally like a born Uchiha could do, and saw the Uchiha of Team 7 buried up to the neck in dirt with his head sticking out of the ground with a scowl on his face.

And a mean bruise the right side of it too!

"I must admit, I was expecting more from you Sasuke, but its clear that the Uchiha Clan just isn't producing strong clan members like Itachi anymore, and I got stuck with the _runt _of the family," said Kakashi in a disappointed voice before disappearing with a very short tempered and humiliated Uchiha Sasuke struggling to get out.

"Hello Sasuke. How are the earthworms doing down there," said Naruto, as he saw the Uchiha glare at him now, and was trying to get out even harder.

"Go away Namikaze! I don't need the likes of you helping an Uchiha elite like me," said Sasuke, as he saw Naruto look at him with that annoying serious expression on his face, and then found the blonde's foot slammed into his face.

Breaking his nose in the process.

"Grow up! All you go on about is 'Uchiha elite' this! 'Uchiha elite' that! When will you learn that your last name means jack squat when it comes to battles. I understand your clan is infamous because of your Sharingan Eyes. Big deal! You know what _my_ Father was infamous for during the last Shinobi war? Here's a little history lesson for you since its clear you didn't pay attention in class. Namikaze Minato killed hundreds of Shinobi of all ranks using his skills he learned from the means of hard work on his own to end the war with Iwa. He had a 'flee on sight' order in the Bingo Book because he used his hard work to destroy all those around him that were enemy Shinobi with the power to fight Kage level Shinobi. Do I use that to get what I want? Hell no! I spent eight _years_ with nothing to my name under my birth Mother's Maiden name while being hated by this very village and then learned of my heritage after my adopted parents rescued me from being burned alive. Literally! I've trained my guts out to be at the level I am while you expect everyone to give you what you want simply because your last name is _Uchiha_! I extended you my hand in a partnership to take down our Jounin sensei, but like every other Uchiha in your damn clan with the exception of Itachi, it was turned down because of your natural pride, and baka like arrogance! So I'm only going to offer you this one more time and accept the idea of teaming with me along with Sakura to get the bells from Kakashi since the whole point of the test is _teamwork_!" said Naruto, as he took his foot off Sasuke's face, and was now right in it waiting for a response.

Blood mixed spit to the face did it.

"There's my answer. Enjoy it!" said Sasuke, as he felt proud to spit on the Namikaze boy's face, and in a way his name.

"And you can enjoy being stuck here until some hungry wild animals come to tear that smug face of yours off since no one is going to save it or your arrogant ass when they arrive to feast. Enjoy being killed in such a dishonorable way Sasuke. Kami knows you deserve it," said Naruto, as he wiped off the stuff on his face, and left the Uchiha alone with his thoughts.

"That wasn't very nice Naruto," said Kakashi, as he leaned against a tree, and witnessed the events that took place.

"If you think I'm not being nice, then you can henge into Sakura, and offer him the same thing. See if he spits in your face too! I bet your other porn book he will," said Naruto, as he saw Kakashi seemingly reading the perverted book, and clutching it a bit tighter.

"I think I'll pass. Witnessing Sasuke's actions is enough to make me hold off in doing such a noble thing," said Kakashi, as he saw Naruto nod, and then show him something in his hands that made the Jounin's eyes widen in disbelief.

"Since Sakura isn't here yet, I thought you should know I offered her a chance to team up with me, and she took it since her brain isn't _completely_ like that of a fan girl. Since I now have _these_, the test is over, and we can tie the Uchiha to a post," said Naruto, as he saw Kakashi look away towards the Uchiha _still_ trying to get out, and Sakura finally coming into view before she moved to help him despite Sasuke's words telling her not to.

"Sadly, I have no choice, but to agree with you on this one Naruto, and call this test to a close," said Kakashi, which was ironically perfect timing since the clock went off, and told everyone the test was over.

With the bell test being done, Sasuke being dug out of the ground, the Genin team met at the training posts, and the Uchiha was tied to it before the boy could do anything. After a few minutes of the dark haired boy struggling to get free to no avail, Kakashi explained the real purpose of this mission to them, and that it was indeed teamwork like Naruto had first told them. Kakashi went on to further say, the only one worth passing was Naruto, as he not only knew what the test involved, but tried to get his teammates to try it out, and got the bells in the process.

In short, Team 7 was screwed like all the others teams Kakashi tested, and it was mostly the Uchiha's fault.

At least Sakura agreed to help Naruto in the end.

"Since Naruto simply refuses to help you two anymore then he's already tried, which I have to admit is quite a bit given just _who_ is on this team, I'm going to give said two one last chance, and hopefully you won't make the same mistake twice. Before we can begin though, it would seem you two have no energy left in your bodies because you didn't eat anything this morning, and need to regain your lost energy. So take these lunches Naruto along with you Sakura, only do _not_ give any to Sasuke since he doesn't deserve any until his ego had been deflated, and learns a lesson in humility," said Kakashi, as he gave both his students lunches, and was gone before Sakura could protest.

As the trio sat there, Naruto looked at his meal while eating a few pieces, as did Sakura with her own, but the girl looked guilty in eating this while Sasuke was next to her, and was conflicted in helping her crush over that of following orders. She wanted them to pass, but Sasuke would never give her for just eating right in front of him, and _not_ offer a single piece of this meal.

Surprisingly, she didn't have to, as Naruto threw his meal onto the Uchiha's lap, and the Namikaze got up to stretch his four limbs.

"What are you doing Naruto? You heard what Kakashi-sensei said," said Sakura, as she Naruto look at her with that serious, yet "I don't give a crap look", and began walking away with his hands in his pockets.

"I ate this morning. It's not even lunch time and I have plenty of energy to spare. You two are running on nothing, but fumes from whatever you ate last night, and even then one of you ate very little yesterday because you wanted to go on a diet," said Naruto, as he saw Sakura blush in embarrassment, and then anger at Ino for blabbing that part to the blonde.

'I'll get her later after I pass,' thought Sakura, as she ate a few more bites of her meal, and her stomach was now feeling less angry.

"He said not to feed me," said Sasuke, as he decided to speak for once, and got their attention.

"He also suggested we not eat for this, but did I listen to him, and not eat anything? Hell no! Now shut your mouth and eat the damn food," said Naruto, as he gave Sasuke a death glare, and the Uchiha looked away to eat his food though it was difficult since his hands were tied.

"Feed me," said Sasuke simply.

"How about I go hump a tree. Have Sakura do it since she's dying to do just that," said Naruto, as he was _not_ about to feed the Uchiha, and drew the line in terms of helping the boy.

"Feed me now or I'll make you regret it in the end," said Sasuke, as he didn't want his fan girl to feed him, and wanted to humiliate the Namikaze in his own way.

"How about I just shove _this_ food down your throat and you can die choking on it!" said Naruto, as he grabbed the plate of the prepared meal, and slammed it into Sasuke's face while keeping it pressed against the arrogant boy's face.

'Not the way I would have asked them to break the rules for each other, but if it works, then it works, and I'm not going to complain,' thought Kakashi, as he saw Sasuke now struggling to breathe, and Sakura trying to stop Naruto from smothering the Uchiha with the plate of now mashed up food.

"Okay! Okay! That's enough you all pass. Naruto, you can stop trying to kill Sasuke with the plate now, and getting me in trouble," said Kakashi, as he saw Naruto _finally_ move the plate away from Sasuke's face, and then smacked the Uchiha on the head with it.

"Now I'm done. So we pass right?" said Naruto, as he saw Kakashi nodding his head, and Sakura looked relieved at that too.

"Yep! Go home and celebrate with your families. I have to go inform the Hokage about Team 7 passing the bell test," said Kakashi, as he saw Sakura head home, and Naruto use his Flash Step to disappear while the Jounin himself took off to make his report.

Though for some reason, Kakashi felt he was forgetting something, and for the life of him could not think of what it was.

If he really thought about it more clearly, Kakashi would have realized that one Uchiha Sasuke was still tied to the training post, and had food stuck in his mouth that gagged his voice crying out for someone to free him.

(Hokage Tower-2 Weeks Later)

Naruto was peeved. No scratch that, Naruto was _really_ peeved, and for good reason too! So far, his team had done _nothing_, but D-ranked missions to prompt teamwork, and make it so the team would grow stronger together. If there was one thing the D-ranked missions did, it was make Sasuke arrogant in thinking that an Uchiha was exempt from doing such labor, and Sakura being too high maintenance to get her hands dirty.

And it was pissing Naruto off.

When this first happened, the only reason the D-ranked missions got done was because Naruto had used Shadow Clones and the original one spent that whole time kicking his teammates asses. When they protested to this, Naruto gave them a choice, and told their sensei to shut up so he could make the offer. Either do the D-ranked missions? Or spent that time returning home with a piece of the Namikaze Clan Heir's foot up their ass until the blonde got promoted to Chuunin.

Considering how he sent them to the hospital after the first D-ranked mission during their "sparring", Naruto's teammates accepted doing D-ranked missions, and Kakashi couldn't have been happier.

And not just because the Hokage and Naruto's adopted parents were actually _encouraging_ the blonde boy's behavior towards his teammates.

"Tora was successfully captured Hokage-sama," said Kakashi, as he saw the cat caught by his team actually _run_ towards the Fire Lord's wife, and embrace the woman's hugs of pain.

Considering Naruto brought out his sword, used spiritual pressure, and threatened the cat to never run away from the woman ever again so long as it lived kind of helped.

"That's good. What else can I give you today? Let's see...I have pulling weeds out, you could walk a few of the dogs from the Inuzuka Clan's kennels since most of the clan is on missions right now outside of the village, _or_ you can do some more babysitting for...," said Tsunade, but was stopped when Naruto release his spiritual pressure on the room, and it was clear he had reached his limit in terms of doing D-ranked missions that were for the most part simple chores lazy civilians wanted someone else to do in their place.

Well this Vizard won't hunt for them anymore.

"Please tell me that you have something of a higher rank on hand to give to us because I _refuse_ to do anymore simple chores that these lazy people don't want to do themselves," said Naruto before cutting off the spiritual pressure, as he told his parents what D-ranked missions were, and Tia looked peeved while Grimmjow laughed.

Then Tia told Grimmjow he was sleeping on the couch that night for laughing at their son's expense.

"Well...we do have _one_ C-ranked escort mission to Wave Country," said Tsunade, as she didn't want to put her Godson into something like this too soon, but it was clear all the D-ranked missions were driving him nuts, and she doubted the boy's parents would tolerate their son doing such demeaning chores.

"We'll take it!" said Naruto, as he saw his chance to see the world, and get a chance to do some serious Shinobi work.

"Bring in the client!" said Tsunade, as she ignored Iruka protesting this decision, and saw the doors behind Team 7 open to reveal a drunken elderly man.

"This is my 'protection' on the way back home? The dark haired boy looks like someone ran over his dog, the pink haired girl looks like she's getting ready for her school prom, and the adult looked like a lazy depth perception lacking idiot," said the drunk, which made Naruto smirk, and his team scowl.

"What about Naruto-baka? He's in our team too!" said Sakura, as she wanted Naruto to be insulted, and make herself feel better.

"Yes old man. What about me?" said Naruto, as he walked over to the old drunk, and had to fight back the stench of sake that came off his body.

"You? Umm...nice hair!" said the old drunk, as he gave a thumbs up to Naruto, and made the rest of Team 7 face plant.

"You'll escort Tazuna here back to Wave Country tomorrow morning. So go home and get all your necessary Shinobi gear ready for the trip tomorrow at 8AM. Do _not_ be late!" said Tsunade, as she looked at Kakashi reading his porn book, and the Jounin just let out an innocent little whistle when she did.

'Must...not look...at...evil eyes...from...female Hokage,' thought Kakashi, as he was now sweating slightly at the look she sent him for the accusation, and then again for reading his book since the Hokage _hated_ those things with a passion.

"See you then," said Naruto, as he vanished from sight, and made the old drunk look at his bottle for a second to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

'Maybe I should actually cut back on drinking,' thought Tazuna before shrugging and then finishing his bottle.

(The Next Day)

Naruto waited by the gate exit/entrance to Konoha, as his teammates, Jounin sensei, and the once again intoxicated client drinking again. The Namikaze wondered if he should get the old man and his Godmother together for a drinking contest to see who wins the next time Tazuna was in town.

Maybe later.

"Is everyone ready?" said Kakashi, as he saw his team nod, and was glad that for _once_ the trio weren't trying to kill each other.

Namely Naruto killing Sasuke with a flick of his wrist.

"Let's go before I age to the point of looking like him," said Naruto pointing to the client with Tazuna scowling.

"Hey! I'm paying the village to escort me back home. Aren't there rules against insulting the client?" said Tazuna, as they headed out, and Kakashi shook his head.

"No. Only against _attacking _the client," said Kakashi, as he saw Tazuna slump his head down in defeat, and the smirk on the Namikaze's face.

The smirk left however, when a puddle of water was seen on the side of the road, and on a cloudless sky that had been without clouds for over a week. Waiting until they were a few feet ahead of the puddle, Naruto unsheathed his zanpakuto from his back, and turned around in a spin before stabbing the puddle. The puddle of water instantly exploded red with blood, as two figures came out of it, one clutching his side, and the other seeing the element of surprise was ruined went straight for the old man. The injured attacker tried to overpower Naruto despite his injuries, but the Namikaze countered by kicking the man hard against a tree rendering him unconscious, and saw Kakashi had already stopped the second assassin from reaching Tazuna with ease.

"It would seem sensei that our dear client here is more important then he let our Hokage believe," said Naruto, as kept the tip of his zanpakuto pressed against the assassin in front of him, and Kakashi soon threw his counterpart next to him before tying them both to a tree.

"I suggest you talk if you know what's good for you," said Kakashi, as he recognized the two as the Demon Brothers formerly of the Mist village, and wondered who hired them since they didn't come cheap.

Especially if they also served another if the rumors were led to believe.

"Screw you," said the uninjured of the two Demon Brothers.

"Are you sure that's your final answer? Because if it is, then we'll leave you here to watch your counterpart here bleed to death, and stay with him long after his body rots," said Naruto, which wasn't true of course, but the former Mist Shinobi didn't know that, and unless the Missing Nin could read minds...the man would answer their questions.

"You wouldn't dare!" said the Demon Brother before he felt the tip of Naruto's zanpakuto on his neck.

"Try me. You have nothing to lose because you're uninjured, but your friend here...well I doubt he would appreciate that your risking _his_ health, and on a gamble that you can't say for sure is a bluff. You tell us what we want to know, your buddy here gets sent back to the Leaf to get treated while you get interrogated, and everyone lives happily ever after," said Naruto smirking at the sight of seeing the scowl on the two Demon Brothers' face.

"We'll get sent to prison. That's hardly what I call happily ever after," said the uninjured of the two.

"Would you prefer that we send you to Mist? Because I can have you sent there all gift wrapped with a bow on your heads?" said Naruto, as he knew that Mist was looking for these guys since all Missing Nin were basically hunted down like rabid dogs, and feared being caught over that of death.

"Just tell them brother. There's no need to hide it anyway since _he_ will take over from here for our failure," said the injured Demon Brother.

So with that said, the reason behind the attack came out, telling who their boss Momochi Zabuza was the one sent after him, and why that man was being paid a hefty amount of money to have Tazuna killed. Tazuna himself confirmed that Gato was in Wave Country, crushing the life out of it using his shipping company to take control of what came into it, and that the threat of the bridge being built under the old man's guidance would easily be able to break such a grip on the poor country. The reason that Tazuna only hired them was due to what little money he had and the higher grade the mission the more money was needed.

As it stood, Tazuna only had enough money for a C-ranked escort mission, and had now been found out by this event during the escort part.

"Okay time for a emergency team meeting. We have two choices before us. One, we go back to the Leaf, and tell the Hokage what rank this mission really is so it can be looked at again in a reevaluation to be handled by more a experienced group. _Or _we can go with option two, which is continue on with the mission, and deal with this new development ourselves," said Kakashi, as he saw Sasuke looking hungry for battle, Sakura looking to side on being cautious, and Naruto...he was looking at the old man currently showing fear at the reality of his situation.

"I say we help Tazuna. Not because of the rank of the mission has changed, but because it's the right thing to do, and the longer we wait spells doom for Wave Country. As he felt this Gato guy was lowest kind of slime, preying on the weak while having others do it for you, and hiding behind things like _money_ to be untouchable.

If Naruto did decide to give into his bloodlust, it would be the moment he set eyes on the man, and let the coward know what a _Namikaze_ thought of his actions.

"While I don't fully agree on what the _Namikaze_ here just said, I too wish to proceed with our mission, and make sure the Uchiha name known to others," said Sasuke, as he looked at Naruto, who scoffed at his response, and mumbling something like "pathetic reasons from a weakling" before walking away.

"Maybe we should turn back. I mean, Momochi Zabuza seems to be really dangerous, and on Kakashi-sensei's level. We should head back to have Hokage-sama give this mission to someone more experienced then us," said Sakura, as she saw Sasuke glaring at her, and Naruto just shook his head in disappointment though there was no glare.

"That will take too long Sakura. If we go back, Tazuna will have to pay more then he had for our escort to Wave Country, and the red tape behind this will delay the bridge being built. For all we know, Gato will have people trying to blow it up before we get back, and see to it that Wave Country suffocates. Time is of the essence here and I will do what I must to make sure Tazuna lives long enough to complete the bridge. If you can't handle this, then you can't be a Shinobi Sakura, and I suggest you go back to Konoha to hand in your headband," said Naruto calmly, as he walked over to Tazuna, and just made a hand motion for the old man to follow him.

Not one to be left behind, Sasuke did the same, and Sakura used what courage she had left to follow the Uchiha while Kakashi just sighed. It wasn't that the Jounin _wanted_ to do this mission despite the change made in it, but more like he didn't want to have his Genin get sent into something so big, and that the end result had an increased chance of one of his students dying.

Not a prospect Kakashi desired on his first mission outside of the Leaf with Team 7 and hoped the end of the mission would end well.

As well as could be given the situation.

(A/N: YAY! I updated. I hope you all liked it. My mind was so tired the last time I had finished writing and know you guys want me to update my other stuff too. Give me time all right. Until next time...PEACE!)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5-Hollow Bridge

The boat ride over to Wave Country was a quiet affair, as Gato had the watery boarders of the country constantly patrolled by his good, who were just _barely_ above that of pirates, and they raided any finishing ships to keep the intake of food to be slim. What food was allowed into Wave Country was poor quality at high prices thanks to Gato controlling that too. The man sent collection agents to the stores, forcing them to pay outlandish payments for "protection", and those that couldn't pay financially paid with bodily harm to their person.

In short, the people of Wave Country were in Hell, and it was up to Tazuna to get them out of it with the bridge he was building.

"The bridge is very impressive to say the least Tazuna," said Kakashi in a whisper, as he could see it through the fog around them, and saw the old man was beaming with pride.

"Thanks. Through this bridge, our village will breathe once more, and our people will grow strong once more," said Tazuna, as he looked at the bridge before him, and hoped he lived long enough to complete it.

"Kakashi. We need to be on our guard once we get off this boat. If Gato has been keeping an eye on Tazuna for this long, then he may already know the Demon Brothers failed, and have Momochi Zabuza come after us next," said Naruto seeing the Jounin nod, but Sasuke scoffed arrogantly, and tried to act calm.

Even though Naruto could sense the Uchiha was moments away from pissing himself.

"Leave it to you to point out the obvious loser. Besides, I doubt the man could stand up against an Uchiha Elite like myself," said Sasuke, who of course got Sakura's support, and a scowl from the Namikaze.

"Baka! Momochi Zabuza is on par with Kakashi here and you can't even lay a mark on _him_. Being an Uchiha doesn't make you _elite_. What it will do is get you killed if you decide to run ahead of everyone and try to take him on alone. If you read the Leaf Bingo Book, which I know you _didn't_, you would know that Momochi Zabuza is an A-Class Missing Nin from Mist, and is a Master of the silent killing technique. The man could kill you before the kunai left your holster _and_ in this fog I might add if you keep running your mouth," said Naruto, as he glared harder at the Uchiha, and had to keep himself from just shutting the boy up with spiritual pressure.

It would only alert their enemy and Naruto doubted his teammates aside Kakashi could walk on water.

"Both of you shut up. I don't mind you whispering, but its currently echoing around us, and I don't want to risk being spotted by one of Gato's boat patrols," said the Ferryman, as rowed them to the shore knowing the motor on the boat would just say "we're here please kill us", and the man had a family to support.

"There not here right now. I can sense that much," said Naruto, which made him frown slightly since it seemed like they were actually _given_ the opening, and that made the Namikaze concerned.

It was like inviting the fox to the chicken coop with the hunting dogs waiting to strike.

When they reached the shore, Tazuna paid the Ferryman what he could given it wasn't much since most of the money the old man had went to this escort mission, and Naruto decided to pitch in too knowing what the man risked. The money would be more then enough to cover any problems the Ferryman had financially, but told him not to use it all at once, and be cautious when he did use it.

With that done, the group walked through the forest trail to Tazuna's home, and keeping an eye out for any unwanted interruptions. About halfway to their destination, the bushes to their left stirred slightly, and Naruto sensed it wasn't something from the local wildlife moving about.

Acting quickly, Naruto brought out his zanpakuto, and stabbed the bush with the tip of his blade piercing the tree behind it. Removing his zanpakuto, Naruto saw he just barely missed killing a very scared, and very _white_ bunny currently shaking from nearly being destroyed. Ignoring Sakura's belittling of him, Naruto quickly picked up the bunny, and showed him to his sensei with a serious look on his face.

'This bunny is white, but the season is Spring right now, meaning this animal has been domesticated, and someone was watching us before using a substitution,' thought Kakashi now looking around slightly with a narrow eye.

There enemy was here.

(Not Far Away)

Haku breathed a sigh of relief, as she had nearly been killed by the blonde's sword, which was something she had never seen before, and wondered who made it for him. What was even more interesting was the strange power that seemed to generate off of him and made her feel strange inside.

Zabuza had told her such emotions were pointless to have, but even the Demon of the Mist knew that Haku was a growing girl going through puberty, and there was always a chance his apprentice would feel her hormones rise to the surface. Zabuza of course had kept her away from the Demon Brothers, but even then the girl would feel something for a guy he was hired to kill, and then it would make the girl act slightly depressed around him.

'I have to ignore these feelings and once this is over I'll rescue my precious Chappy from them!' thought Haku, as she loved Chappy, and knew it drove Zabuza crazy sometimes.

Shaking such the thoughts along with feeling away, the young woman moved herself into position for the possible event Zabuza was defeated, and a need to use their escape plan.

Something told Haku they would need it.

(With Team 7 and Tazuna)

"You shouldn't have tried to hurt this bunny Namikaze-baka!" said Sakura, as she petted, and soothed the frightened bunny currently still terrified of the zanpakuto in Naruto's hands before the Namikaze put it in a sealing scroll he had on hand.

"I wasn't _trying_ to hurt the bunny at all Sakura so shut your mouth or you will be picking your teeth off the ground. Got it? Now focus! We're not alone out here," said Naruto, as he readied Zangetsu again, and heard the whistling sound coming from a large sword spinning horizontally with incredible velocity at them.

"DUCK!" yelled Kakashi, as he grabbed Tazuna, and Sakura before hitting the ground with Sasuke doing the same on his own.

Naruto however, stood his ground with his zanpakuto, and knocked the sword away from them into a tree to his left.

"Well what do we have here. I have to admit kid it takes a lot of balls to block my sword. You're not like the other two Genin, are you?" said Zabuza, as he stood on the hilt, and handle of his sword while looking down at Naruto while his team got off the ground.

"Right on both counts. I actually snuck back in line when Kami was handing out balls and grabbed quite a few for myself. It also explains why my teammates are lacking in that department," said Naruto, as he sensed Sasuke, and Sakura aiming their anger at him while Zabuza laughed.

"You baka! I'm a _girl_!" said Sakura angrily.

"Really? Your chest says otherwise," said Naruto, as he got more laughter from Zabuza, and angry screeching from Sakura.

"I like you kid. Its almost a shame I have to kill you along with the old man there," said Zabuza, as he leaped down with his sword, and got ready for a fight.

"Naruto, stay with your teammates, and Tazuna while I deal with him," said Kakashi, who revealed his Sharingan Eye, and made Zabuza's eyes widen.

"Well what do you know. Hatake Kakashi is using his Sharingan on me. I'm actually quite honored. There aren't many Shinobi these days are worthy of seeing it much less facing you with it exposed," said Zabuza, as he grinned behind his bandages, and saw Kakashi tensing slightly.

"I'm glad my skills are praised so well," said Kakashi, as he felt his old friend's eye telling him what he needed to know, and how to counter it.

"Shame they won't help your team or the old man!" said Zabuza, as he moved quickly around Kakashi, and was now in the middle of the group in standard defense formation around Tazuna.

However, steel soon met steel, as Naruto blocked Zabuza's weapon with his own, and two stayed deadlocked with the Namikaze grinning like his old man would in a fight.

"The Sharingan may not help them, but my friend here Zangetsu sure can, and he's not easy to beat," said Naruto, as he pushed Zabuza back, and pierced the man stomach.

Only for Zabuza to turn into water.

"A Water Clone!" said Sakura before Zabuza appeared behind her and Tazuna.

"Got it in one," said Zabuza, as he swung his blade down upon her, but Kakashi was the one this time to stop the blade with his kunai in hand, and with a serious look on his face.

"You'll have to do better then that Zabuza," said Kakashi, as he kicked the man back, and turn to water from the force behind the kick.

"Thanks for the advice Kakashi," said Zabuza, as he swung his sword Kakashi, and sliced the man in two.

Only for Kakashi to turn into water.

"You should know better then to use such a Jutsu on the Sharingan since its so easy to replicate. Even more so with the moisture in the air," said Kakashi, as he had a kunai pressed to the man's neck, and hinting to the man to yield by pressing the kunai's blade against the Missing Nin's neck.

"And you should know better then relying on that eye. I doubt it sees _everything_," said Zabuza, as he tuned into water, and the _real_ Zabuza jump kicked the Leaf Jounin from behind into the lake nearby.

'This water is heavier then its suppose to be. Wait! That means...,' thought Kakashi, who couldn't move, as he was now trapped in a Water Prison Jutsu, and Zabuza holding it in place on the lake so the Jutsu didn't drain so much chakra.

"Looks like I win Kakashi," said Zabuza at the sight of his prey.

"Not quite. You forgot about me," said Naruto, as he walked over to the lake, and had a serious "not taking anymore shit" expression on his face.

"Naruto run! Take your teammates and Tazuna away from here," said Kakashi, as the client came first, and with him dead then Wave Country wouldn't have a future.

"Shut up you lazy ass! Considering who your Father and sensei was I'd expected better from you. Now I have to clean up your mess so you can live to see another day and get your skills up to where they should be. Troublesome," said Naruto, as he saw Zabuza smirking at him, and making a Water Clone with ease.

"You think you know what it means to be a Shinobi kid? HA! I was at a much younger age when I first spilled blood and I was _very_ good at it. So good actually, the hire ups in the Mist village decided the rules had to be changed regarding the Academy's graduation exam, and put me where my violent tendencies could be put to good use," said Zabuza, as he explained the final exam for Mist, and what he did to change the rules.

The news made Sasuke's, Sakura's, and Tazuna's blood run cold with fear.

Naruto just smirked.

"That's pretty impressive. I can see why they felt your talents for violence could be put to better use as a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and express yourself that way. However, I have been trained by some pretty sick people myself, and they are far worse then you ever could be," said Naruto, as he was behind the Water Clone in a single heartbeat, and sliced it to pieces.

"So that sword of yours isn't just for show. You actually do practice," said Zabuza, as he saw Naruto grinning, and could tell the blonde had an interesting idea running through his head before the Namikaze began spinning his blade vertically using the while strap connected to the zanpakuto.

Naruto's own version of Zabuza's idea, but more of an improved, and advanced version of the intro the Missing Nin did earlier.

"I have had more experience with swords then you can imagine," said Naruto, as he sent Zangetsu straight at Zabuza's head, and force the Missing Nin to let go of the Jutsu.

"Nice move Naruto," said Kakashi, as he got out of the water using the skills of Water Walking, and saw his sensei's son shrug.

"The thanks goes to Zabuza. He was the inspiration," said Naruto smirking at Kakashi before seeing the Demon of the Mist become very upset right now.

"I'll be sure to relay my..._thanks_," said Kakashi, as he decided to give Zabuza a little taste of the Sharingan's power, and throw the man off balance.

"Clever kid you got their Kakashi. If it weren't for the fact is loyalty is towards the Leaf, I'd offer him the chance to work for me, and really paint the Elemental Countries red," said Zabuza before their little dance began and the powers of the Sharingan in Kakashi's eye working its magic on him.

When it was over, Kakashi's plan had sent Zabuza into a tree ready to be killed by the Jounin's own hands, but intervention from another source had taken the kill from him, and in the form of a masked Hunter Nin.

"Thank you for weakening him to this point. I alone could not handle him, but now I can dispose of the body properly, and safely without problems," said the feminine voice, as she picked Zabuza up, and was about leave when Naruto through Zangetsu at the tree to make her freeze.

"Care to explain to us _why_ you are taking the body away from here and _why_ you smell like that snow bunny I nearly divided in half?" said Naruto, as he got the reaction out of the Hunter Nin, and even more regarding the bunny.

"We'll meet again and I will rescues Chappy next!" said the Haku in a righteous voice, as she left vanished from the scene, and missed the smirk on Naruto's face.

"That one has fire in her. I think I'm in love," said Naruto to himself before letting out a chuckle.

"You did good Naruto though next time, you should have your teammates provide some kind of support, and listen to your sensei more when he says _not_ to fight the enemy," said Kakashi with his Sharingan Eye now covered, as he looked at his other two students, and saw Sasuke was fuming over Naruto doing so much while he was stuck doing guard duty.

Sakura was being Sakura in fawning over the Uchiha.

"Do you honestly expect me to trust them when they'd sooner slit my throat in my sleep if given the chance?" said Naruto, as he saw Kakashi raise an eyebrow, and look again at the rest of Team 7.

"Good point. Okay, when working with _other_ Leaf Shinobi, and not those two you should let them support you," said Kakashi, as he saw Naruto nod, and then the Jounin collapsed from using too much chakra.

"Crap. Come on you three. Tazuna, your home awaits us, and I think we should get there before it gets too dark," said Naruto, as he put away his zanpakuto, and picked up Hatake Kakashi while the old man led them to his home.

(With Zabuza and Haku)

"Damn it Haku. Get these damn things out of my neck already," said Zabuza, as he hated how Haku had to use _this_ type of approach to get him away from his enemies, and that she took so damn long to remove them.

"Sorry Zabuza-sama. If I hadn't, the Jounin would have killed you, and then there was that _other_ Shinobi with them being another threat," said Haku, as she knew her precious Chappy away from her, and was now being held hostage by them.

He could be gutted, turned into bunny stew, or...or...something _unthinkable_!

"Haku! Damn it! Stop daydreaming about the damn bunny and get this last needle out," said Zabuza, as he knew that damn bunny was loved by Haku on the same level as her loyalty to himself.

Though Zabuza would kill anyone who learned that.

"Sorry Zabuza-sama," said Haku, as she took the last one out, and the Jounin groaned at feeling the last intrusion to his neck being removed.

"Kakashi was good. Definitely lived up to his reputation regarding the Sharingan. That blonde haired kid was good too. Something about that sword though makes me uneasy. Its almost like its hiding its true self," said Zabuza, his mind thinking on the matter at hand, and Haku was already thinking up ways to disable to sword should they fight again.

"I know of a way to disable the Sharingan if you face it again. However, I don't know how to deal with the blonde's sword. I felt its power and it was almost..._alive_!" said Haku, as she saw him nod his head, and that told her Zabuza got the same impression of the zanpakuto too.

"Yeah. Like it was an actual extension of him. I've heard rumors about such swords, but not to the extent, or level that one was at. Something tells me that sword has yet to reveal its true potential," said Zabuza, as he saw the young woman now focusing more of her mind on Naruto now, and once more planning to get Chappy back.

Damn how Zabuza _hated_ that stupid bunny!

(Tazuna's Home)

Naruto found the old man's home to be quite pleasant, like a home should be with a family despite the poverty the country was in right now. Inside the house was Tazuna's only daughter Tsunami, who thanked them all for saving her Father from Zabuza, and welcomed them into the house. Tsunami then showed Naruto where Kakashi's bed would be while he recovered from the battle, which the Namikaze threw him on, then after he found out the Jounin had been awake for sometime when carried was kicked into the wall, and the boy smirked at hearing the grown mixed with several curses.

Soon after, the Genins of Team 7 were eating a good meal despite what little there was to be had, and the woman's son came in looking like the world owed him everything, The boy made Naruto want to slap the emo right out of the boy for whatever reason he was possessed by it. After the silent meal was over, the kid now known as Inari by his own Mother, ran upstairs to be alone away from the Genin's of Team 7, and Naruto learned why it was the brat was acting like the world screwed him over.

'Hey Zangetsu. We need to talk,' thought Naruto, as he needed to have a heart to heart with his zanpakuto, and he needed it now.

_**"What about?"**_ said Zangetsu, as Naruto appeared in the boy's mind, and were now staring face to face.

"My dad said that all Shinigami Zanpakutos have a unsealed version known as Shikai, which you are currently in, and then another more advanced version called Bankai. Do you have such a form?" said Naruto within his mind at his friend, and once great tailed demon sealed inside of his body by the Yondaime.

_**"Yes. When I became your zanpakuto, I was automatically given that ability, and one day you will be ready to achieve it. Unfortunately, such a means to achieve Bankai is not possible during this mission, and will have to be done back in Konoha in a proper setting,"**_ said Zangetsu, as he saw Naruto mutter some curses, and seemed peeved they couldn't proceed in trying.

"How does it work? Can I get some kind of idea on what needs to be done?" said Naruto, as he saw Zangetsu look away in thought, and then back at him.

_**"You must pass a test of my choosing. A test that forces me into submission. That truly binds me to you,"**_ said Zangetsu, as he saw Naruto nod, and knew the boy would file that away for later when the time to train for Bankai was needed.

"Okay. Thanks," said Naruto before he was gone and left Zangetsu alone.

Well..._almost_ alone.

_**"You didn't tell him about me,"**_ said another figure appearing behind Zangetsu.

_**"Naruto will know about you when he's ready and not a day sooner,"**_ said Zangetsu, as he saw the figure laugh a small, and yet still psychotic laugh.

_**"Fair enough, but just so you know, that day is fast approaching, and you can't keep me at bay forever,"**_ said the figure grinning at him like the psycho he was.

_**"Sadly no,"**_ said Zangetsu, as the figure departed from his presence.

Sadly no indeed.

(The Next Day)

"You send this message to the Hokage, all right? Nobody, but her can see it, and tell my Godmother to send a second team right away," said Naruto to Gamakichi sitting in front of him.

_**"Right! I'll tell dad you said hello. Don't forget you owe me a snack," **_said the orange Toad summons since he loved to eat himself silly.

"Ask Shizune-chan for some. I've already got a stash of treats setup for her to give you when the need arises. Just don't pig out in taking too many or I'll reduce the pile each time you do," said Naruto knowing the Toad summons loved snack, but could be a bit of a pig at times, and needed to keep him in line.

_**"Who? Me? No. Not me. Never,"**_ said Gamakichi, as he looked a bit nervous, and was starting to sweat a little at the thought of the pile of snack shrinking.

"Good. Now hurry up. The team has just about a week to get here," said Naruto, as he saw the orange Toad nod, and then vanish instantly in a "poof" of smoke.

With his task done, Naruto went to see Kakashi, and tell him what he did so the man didn't freak out later when the team arrived. The said Jounin was sitting up in his bed, glaring at Naruto when he came in for the kick off into the wall the previous night, and then went back to reading his perverted orange book.

"How's everyone downstairs?" said Kakashi, as he had seen Tsunami earlier, and got a scolding from him for reading his book in front her.

He was a guy! And a guy tends to read porn.

"The usual stuff. Sasuke brooding, Sakura being his bitch yet she won't get into his pants anytime soon, and Tsunami's son Inari is being a emo bitch. I also sent a Toad summons to the Hokage for backup. I gave her the whole story behind Tazuna lying to us about the mission, the Demon Brothers, Gato, Zabuza, and Zabuza's masked friend. Hopefully, we will get another team in here before the end of the week, and be ready for battle to come," said Naruto, as he saw Kakashi nod since it was known that Hunter Nin dispose of bodies on the spot after a kill, and only certain parts of the body that would allow for fake death state to happen.

"Zabuza's injuries will put him out of perfect health for about a week so that sounds about right. Same for me really so I can't really teach the others anything for the next few days except tree walking," said Kakashi, as he been focusing on their teamwork more then training, and now cursed himself for doing that.

"I've already done that. Teach it to the other two. Though considering Sakura has so little, she'll pass it easily, and Sasuke will bitch about being left behind," said Naruto seeing Kakashi nod his head in shame.

"Yes. From what I have observed, Sakura needs to work on her stamina, and Sasuke has to work on...well _everything_!" said Kakashi, as he put down the book, and looked at Naruto with his one natural eye.

"Well if I know them, then you have to give the order since they won't listen to me, and I don't want to be in the same area as them when they start bitching," said Naruto, as saw Kakashi nodding his head, and knew those two idiots would only listen to the Jounin of the group.

"All right. Send them up here," said Kakashi, as he really wanted to read his book for a little while longer, but felt his students safety came first, and training was required to make that possible.

When Naruto went down the stairs, he told his so called teammates to head up to see Kakashi for their training regime instructions knowing it would get Sasuke up the steps, and Sakura not that far behind being the love sick puppy she was. With the two out of his sight, Naruto looked out the kitchen window to see Inari sitting by the water, showing signs of crying, and looked away before the urge to knock some sense into the brat was felt.

"So what's the plan for the day?" said Tazuna, as he saw Naruto while coming down the stairs, and hoped the kid was good enough to provide protection detail.

"Since Kakashi is out of action for awhile, I'm going to be guarding you while my two teammates are out training since they need it more then I do, and when I'm not watching you then I'm training. Also, I sent a message to the Hokage to send backup, and gave her details about the situation. The mission will be bumped up of course, but if I know her, then she'll put you a payment plan, and ask for the bill when the money for the mission is available," said Naruto seeing Tazuna nod at that since it seemed the best thing to do at the moment.

"Okay. Well, I'm needed on the bridge so you're going to stay with me on the bridge with my workers until its time, and should I spot someone that shouldn't be there I'll let you know," said Tazuna, as he knew Gato would send spies to the bridge, and try to locate him in order for his thugs to take him out.

"Lead the way," said Naruto, as he followed Tazuna out, and ignored the protest from Sakura about doing such a ridiculous training exercise as tree climbing.

(Hokage Tower-At the Moment)

"Shizune! Get me Team 8! NOW!" said Tsunade, as she read Naruto's report from the Toad, and was pissed off at the moment.

"Yes Hokage-sama. May I ask what has happened?" said Shizune, as she immediately sent an ANBU to get them, and then give Gamakichi his snacks.

"Tazuna lied about the reason for the escort. Its not a simple C-ranked mission anymore. It's A-ranked now due to the presence of Momochi Zabuza, who was hired by Gato to kill Tazuna, and the man got away thanks to an accomplice," said Tsunade, as she took a swig of sake', even though it was in the morning she needed a quick kick start, and would have taken more had Shizune not taken it.

"No Tsunade-sama! You need to be sober for your paperwork and for the meetings later today," said Shizune, as she put the sake' away much to Tsunade's annoyance, and saw the Hokage's sigh of defeat.

"You wanted to see us Hokage-sama?" said Kurenai, as her team fell in line, and ready for a mission.

"Yes. I need your team to support Team 7 in Wave Country. The mission they went on wasn't accurate and got upgraded to A-rank. You have until the end of the week to get there. I want you there by _tonight_!" said Tsunade, as she trusted her Godson to handle it himself, but the problem lied in his two teammates, and the Uchiha's ego causing him problems.

"We will be ready Hokage-sama," said Kurenai, as she knew the meaning by them being there by tonight, which meant in a polite, and yet serious voice to "haul ass until your feet bleed".

'Naruto-kun,' thought Hinata, as she was worried, and yet glad to see him again.

'Now to show that Namikaze what an Inuzuka can do!' thought Kiba, as he had tried to get some time in with Hinata, but had been stopped by both Kurenai, and Shino in their own way.

'Conflict will arise from this. I know it will,' thought Shino, as he knew Kiba was trying to make advances on Hinata, and he had done quite a bit to stop the Inuzuka knowing the Namikaze held his female teammate's heart.

(Wave Country-Incomplete Bridge)

Naruto watched Tazuna with sharp eyes from his vantage point, as he saw the old man working with the construction crew to get as much of the bridge built before the end of the week, and kept an eye out for any suspicious characters trying to snoop around. So far the day had gone on without a hitch, but Naruto wasn't going to be lazy in keeping an eye on Tazuna, and made sure the old man felt like he had a guardian angel watching over him.

"I can't do this anymore. I'm putting my family endanger just by talking to you," said a man on the bridge helping Tazuna with the construction.

"So you're going to leave out of fear of Gato huh? Knowing that he'll hurt your family because you're here helping me fight him. What kind of cowardly bullshit is that?" said Tazuna, as he was in the other man's face, and ready to kick the younger man's ass right off the bridge.

"T-Tazuna? Listen I-I...," said the man, but Tazuna cut him off, and he didn't sugarcoat it.

"No! You listen! Gato is going to bleed this country dry whether we try to fight or not. _I_ am not about to let us suffer at the hands of this pig anymore! You want Gato to send his goons to your homes, day after day, week after week, and bleed what little resources you have left to feed your family? What happens when the day comes when you can't pay Gato money? What do you think he'll take? Or rather _who_ will he take just to make you suffer? Your family!" said Tazuna, as he wanted this man to fear what would happen if Gato won, and they lost this battle.

"I know! I know Tazuna! Its just...," said the man, as it was clear he was scared, and Tazuna was not feeling very nice at the moment.

"Get out of here! I need workers ready to put everything they have on the line. You're not one of them!" said Tazuna, as he saw the man try to protest, but in the end hung his head in shame, and walked away after taking off his hardhat.

"Another worker left huh? You need some extra manpower now that you're down several guys?" said Naruto appearing in next to Tazuna and saw the man nod sadly knowing what the loss of the workers was doing to the progress being made to liberating Wave.

"I could. But I can't get workers to spring out of thin air to work for me," said Tazuna, who was already limited in terms of workers before some of them left, and couldn't risk losing anyone else.

"You can't, _but _I can, and with three simple words. 'Shadow Clone Jutsu!'" said Naruto, as he made a couple dozen copies, and all of them were grinning.

"Okay. Either you just did that for real or my eyes are suffering from drinking too much," said Tazuna, as he poked one of the copies, and then jumped back a little in surprise to see it felt real.

"It's a highly advanced Clone Jutsu, which allows me to create several copies of myself like the Water Clone Jutsu that Zabuza used, only these send whatever they know to the original when they dispel into a 'poof' of smoke, and can help do anything you need help with like a normal person can," said Naruto, as he saw Tazuna's eyes widen in disbelief, and the faint "Hallelujah" could be heard singing in the background.

Was that a ray of light shining down on him? Nah!

"Thank you my boy! You just made our hopes in liberating ourselves from Gato rise to a level we haven't had in a long time," said Tazuna, as he hugged the boy, and would have kissed him had the blonde not sent him a "don't push it" look to the old man.

"Glad I could help. Just point where you need a number of my guys to go, what to do, and they will do whatever you need done," said Naruto since his clones would get the job done easily.

"Thanks again kid," said Tazuna, as he directed the clones, and they obeyed him without question.

"Anytime," said Naruto, as he went back to sentry duty, and made sure the clones also kept an eye on the old man.

Just incase.

(Tazuna's House-Later that Night)

"How'd it go at the bridge?" said Kakashi, as he saw Naruto come in with the old man entering first, and the Namikaze right behind him.

"Great! This kid of yours is a Godsend. Many a couple of those Shadow Clones of his and I was able to get a lot more done then I thought I could after several of my workers left," said Tazuna, as he gave Naruto a pat on the back, and the blonde just chuckled at the praise.

"Really? That's wonderful news!" said Tsunami, as she knew this bridge her Father was working on was making people nervous due to Gato's mercy being limited, and all the people in Wave Country trying to make sure they stayed within its very narrow range.

"Yep! With the way the gaki is helping, I should actually get the bridge completed ahead of schedule, and save our country," said Tazuna, as he couldn't help himself in being filled with such hope, and would have continued on had Inari not come down the step scowling at Naruto before the last of Team 7 came in looking worn out from their own training.

And right behind _them_ was Team 8 reporting for their duty as backup.

"Sorry were late," said Kurenai, as she was a little worn out from running with her team all the way here, and then getting over the body of water that cut Wave Country off from the mainland.

"Oh, the Hokage sent Team 8! Perfect!" said Kakashi, as he knew Tsunade would send a backup team, but Team 8 actually worked well in their favor since they had the needed skills to support Team 7 during the fight with Zabuza, and Gato should the slime ball try to pull something.

"Why did the Hokage send _them_? They're weak! A runt of an Inuzuka, a silent bug freak of an Aburame, and then the Hyuuga girl is-ACK!" said Sasuke, as he was soon pinned to the wall, and staring into the eyes of a very angry Namikaze Naruto.

"Shut your mouth Uchiha! You speak one more word about them, I'll cut your tiny nuts off before shoving them down your throat until my fist reaches your stomach, and break through your damn spine! Got it!" said Naruto, as he was in no mood to deal with the boy's arrogance, and was not going to tolerate when this mission needed _everyone_ for what was to come.

Seeing Sasuke nod, Naruto shoved threw into a vacant wall, and stopped when he saw Inari looking at him with uncertainty. Like he was different from the others that the little boy perceived to be weak and almost wanted to believe Naruto could save them from Gato.

"Do you really think you have the power to defeat Gato?" said Inari, as he wasn't sure about Naruto, or the Leaf Shinobi before him.

"Kid, I know your hurting over the loss of your old man, but I know all about suffering too since I was on my own since I was practically your age, and almost everyone in the Leaf wanted me dead. _Literally_! They've tried so many times to do it too. The last time when I was your age that someone tried to kill me, the bastard tried to set me on fire, and that was _after_ the baka kicked the crap out of my body. It wasn't fun. I only survived because I got adopted by people, who cared about, and helped me become strong under their guiding hands. When the time comes, you will need to decide what to do with your life, and ask yourself if what you're doing right now is the best way to honor your late Father's memory," said Naruto, as he walked out of the house after nodding to Hinata, Shino, and Kurenai while growling at Kiba to tell the Inuzuka to keep his hands to himself when around Hinata.

"Is that true? Did they try to kill him so many times before?" said Tsunami, as she looked at Kakashi, and the Jounin sighed before nodding his head.

"Yeah. They've tried and failed to kill Naruto. When Naruto was roughly Inari's age, the boy got adopted by two people, who called themselves Arrancars, and were once part of an elite group of them known as Espada before they died. From what I have heard, they were brought here by the Shinigami King himself after their death, and had them raise Naruto due to what was sealed inside of him by the Yondaime," said Kakashi, as he let out a sigh, and knew that he shouldn't tell the people here what was sealed into Naruto.

But they needed to know.

"You mean the Kyuubi?" said Sakura, as she had been told about it by her parents, and that Naruto was connected to it in a way that he should be hated for it.

"How do you know about that?" said Kurenai, as she saw her own students go tense, and wondered how they would react.

"My Mom told me. She told me a long time ago that Naruto was connected to Kyuubi in some way and to stay away from him," said Sakura like it was the most common thing in the world.

"You do realize Sakura that such a mentioning of Kyuubi being connected to Naruto in _any_ way will get your Mother in trouble, right?" said Kurenai, as she knew that Sakura's Mother had violated the Sandaime's law regarding Naruto, and even more so now that it was under Tsunade's stricter guidelines.

"No she won't. My Father's on the Council. He'll use his power there to protect her from such a law," said Sakura like her Father's position would protect her Mother from the punishment that awaited the woman.

'No it won't,' thought Kakashi and Kurenai at the same time.

'So Naruto has the Kyuubi sealed inside of him huh? Perfect! I'll make Naruto look like a monster and Hinata-chan will fall for me,' thought Kiba, as he smirked at the idea, and was already beginning to think of ways to make Hinata his bitch.

'Poor Naruto-kun. I don't see him as Kyuubi. I see him as Naruto-kun,' thought Hinata, as she knew Naruto was always nice to her, had wanted to be her friend, and even saved her from being abducted back to Kumo.

No demon would have done that.

'People are illogical at times. Such morons,' thought Shino, as he thought the people in the village had acted illogical, and it sickened him inside.

'So the baka really is a monster like Father said he was. Good! I'll just use it to gain the support of Konoha and run the demon out the Leaf,' thought Sasuke, as he was going to enjoy destroying Naruto, and all those close to him.

"Well the kid's not a monster in my eyes. No monster would help me or help with the building of our bridge to break free from Gato," said Tazuna simply with Tsunami in full agreement, and saw even Inari nodding with tears running down his face.

'Maybe Naruto is different. Maybe he can defeat Gato,' thought Inari before leaving again to think about what Naruto said.

(The Next Day)

Haku needed more herbs for Zabuza, as she had run out of them, and there was still several injuries that required such plants to heal him. As she headed to her spot though, Haku saw that someone was near it, and became alarmed that it was the blonde currently sleeping on the ground responsible for causing her Zabuza such problems.

Not to mention her precious Chappy was still in the Namikaze boy's evil grasp!

Moving silently, Haku stood in front of the Namikaze, and kneeled down to reach for the boy's throat to choke the life out of him. Her hand stopped however, when an incredible pressure surrounded the area, and saw Naruto now looking at Haku with a raised eyebrow at seeing how close the hand was to his throat.

"You know my dear, if you wanted your bunny back, all you had to do was ask me, and I would have given him to you," said Naruto before releasing the pressure off Haku, and saw her leap back while noticing a certain part of the girl's body bounce.

"Give Chappy back to me," said Haku, as she drew senbon needles to her hands, and was going to throw them when Naruto took out a sealing scroll.

"I repeat. All you have to do was ask. I don't abuse animals. Your bunny _Chappy_ is in this scroll, he is unharmed, and I have even taken him out of it on occasion to feed him before I put him back in," said Naruto, as he made a Shadow Clone, who took the scroll, and put it in the spot between them before undoing the scroll to reveal Haku's precious bunny.

"Chappy!" said Haku squealing in delight, her intent to kill, or maim Naruto now gone with the girl now tackling the poor bunny before hugging him something fierce.

'I almost wish I was that bunny right about now. I wonder why?' thought Naruto, as he saw Haku burying the bunny in her breasts, and it made him feel weird.

He'd talk to his Mother about this or possibly Shizune since she was a medic and this could be medically connected.

"Thank you for returning him. I must confess that your actions are confusing to me," said Haku, as she did not expect Naruto to give Chappy back to her, and wondered if this was done to bring down her guard.

"I imagine it is confusing. Had you run into my so called teammate of an Uchiha, he'd just tricked you, and no doubt do unspeakable things to your body because he feels he could due to his 'elite' bloodline," said Naruto, as he saw Haku shiver slightly, and held onto Chappy tighter.

"This doesn't change anything between us. You are still Zabuza-sama's enemy and thus it makes you _my _enemy!" said Haku, as she wanted to make it perfectly clear that soon they would fight, and only one of them would walk away.

"I know. But even enemies can show _respect_ to one another. As such, I warn you out of respect that Gato should not be trusted in paying whatever it is he owes for your Master's services, and to consider joining the Leaf," said Naruto, as he picked up Zangetsu, and put his wrapped zanpakuto on his shoulder before walking away.

"Do you really believe that?" said Haku, as she saw him walking away, and then stop for a moment before looking back at her.

"Gato is a greedy businessman. A snake with no honor. From what I understand of him, he doesn't honor deals unless there is no choice, and if you fight us...it will provide him with a choice in removing you both," said Naruto, as he continued walking away, and heading back to Tazuna's house.

"Wait! Tell me your name!" said Haku, as she wanted to know who he was, and what she should tell Zabuza.

"It's Naruto. Namikaze Naruto!" said Naruto called back.

"Mines Momochi Haku!" said Haku loud enough for him to hear.

"Good to know. Thanks! I'll see you soon," said Naruto, as he turned his head slightly, and winked at her causing Haku to blush.

'What is this feeling? Could I be...? No! NO! My loyalty my very being only belongs to Zabuza-sama and to Chappy!' thought Haku, as she held her bunny close to her, and pet its head gently.

(The Incomplete Bridge-End of the Week)

As expected, Zabuza was there with Haku on the bridge waiting for Team 7, and the Missing Nin was surprised to see another Leaf Jounin with them. A woman at that, but it was clear she had skill, and Zabuza knew not to underestimate her if Leaf Shinobi were anything to go by since his days being a Mist Shinobi.

"I see you called for backup. I'm surprised you did and even more that it wasn't ANBU," said Zabuza, as he wondered why send the one Jounin, and not a whole squad?

What Zabuza and Haku didn't know was Team 8 was given guard duty over Tsunami and Inari in the off chance Gato tried anything with his thugs.

"Shows what you know," said Naruto grinning and made Zabuza even more tense.

'Could there actually be another Shinobi team waiting to flank us,' thought Haku, as she looked around, but saw nothing, and wondered if Naruto was bluffing.

"Come on Mr. Please Insert Eyebrows Here. You want a good fight and I can deliver one. Swordsman to swordsman. No outside interferences. Winner decides Tazuna's life right after the fight. Interested?" said Naruto, as he saw Zabuza seething at the mention of him having no eyebrows, and got his sword out ready for a fight.

"Brat...I'm so going to enjoy cutting your ass up," said Zabuza, as he knew the old man could wait, and decided to fight Naruto first.

"Glad you agreed. Now...less talking more fighting," said Naruto, as moved at incredible speed towards Zabuza, and swung Zangetsu hard at the other sword.

As the two began their fight, Haku looked at the Uchiha, and remembered what Naruto said about the boy. From what she knew of the Uchiha Clan, they were arrogant, and had a sense of feeling better then everyone else. She didn't know if Sasuke had acquired his Sharingan Eyes yet, but judging by the jealous, and anger filled look the boy was giving Naruto...it wasn't active. However, it didn't mean she should underestimate him, and Haku knew that mercy was not possible with Sasuke since Uchiha's were known for _not_ giving any back.

The problem wasn't dealing with Sasuke or his pink haired teammate. The problem was the two Jounin themselves and one of them having unknown skills Haku did have yet to know in order to counter. Working this out from a tactical point of view, which Haku always did when it came to situations like these, the first thing she needed to do was disable the two Genin in the span of 1.2 second, and then move to engage the two Jounin using her ace in the hole. Granted, the female Jounin could possibly have _some_ means to counter her ice powers, but Haku could at least try to hit a few pressure points on her body to slow the Jounin down, and then refocus full attention back to Kakashi since the perfect way to handle it was already in the young woman's mind.

"Kakashi, how do we handle the masked one?" said Kurenai in a whispery voice while keeping an eye on Sasuke since he looked ready to charge into the fight.

"We can't make a move against her until she does against us. I don't know what Zabuza trained her in aside from using senbon needles, but its clear the girl is strong, and has more of an edge on us then we do her. You're pretty much equal to her that regard if you two fought, but that won't last for long if she can counter Genjutsu, and then there is also the fact she may have a bloodline," said Kakashi in a whisper of his own.

"What makes you say that?" said Kurenai with a frown while keeping an eye on Haku and the other on the sword fight that Naruto was in with Zabuza.

"Zabuza is from Mist and I wouldn't be surprised if he found the girl while fleeing due to the bloodline purges over there leaving so many kids homeless. What are the chances this girl is from Water Country and survived the purges thanks to Zabuza before getting away from there," said Kakashi, as he saw Kurenai's eyes widen in disbelief, and was looking at the masked girl in front of her with more caution.

"Good point. It seems she's waiting for us to make a move while Naruto fights Zabuza, but is that wise to let them fight it out?" said Kurenai, as she had not seen Naruto's power, and had partially questioned her fellow Jounin's sanity in letting him.

"Considering the pair, _who_ have been raising, and training Naruto do you _really_ want to question how strong he is?" said Kakashi, as he knew that Kurenai knew the truth behind Naruto's adopted parents, and how they're power was way beyond anything they had ever seen before.

"Good point," said Kurenai, as she saw Naruto holding his own against Zabuza, and the Demon of the Mist clashing his sword against the Namikaze's.

"You're good brat. Tell me, who was it that trained you in art of swordsmanship? Konoha doesn't have many swordsmen," said Zabuza, as he knew of one, but the man was sickly, and was kept near Konoha recently for medical attention for his sickness.

"If I told you, I doubt you'd believe me, and if you did believe me then you would shit your pants," said Naruto grinning at Zabuza while seeing the slightly injured body of his opponent covered with various cuts, blood dripping from the wounds, and the Missing Nin found himself being pushed back.

"I also take it they're responsible for your sword being unique?" said Zabuza, as he tried a horizontal slash, and missed with Naruto hitting his side with Zangetsu causing a deep possibly fatal wound.

"Sort of. You could also say I've earned the favor of the Shinigami King himself," said Naruto, as he saw Zabuza look at him in surprise, and some fear crept into the Demon of the Mist's eyes.

"Shinigami King?" said Zabuza, as he had heard the rumors coming out of Konoha for the past four years, but didn't believe them since the people he heard tell it were drunk at best, and unreliable at worse.

"Yep! The same one responsible for helping my Father seal up the Kyuubi in me!" said Naruto, as he used Flash Step, and used it to get through Zabuza's defenses.

'Shit! I got distracted,' thought Zabuza, as he barely had time to block Naruto's blade, and even then the strange blade had struck the top of the hilt of his zanbatou before it broke the weapon with the large blade flying off hitting the side of the bridge.

Then Naruto moved in for the kill with a stab to the chest, but paused just before hitting Zabuza when Haku appeared, ready to take the hit for her Master, and allow him to cheat death through the means of her own life. Naruto for his part, could not slay Haku to get to Zabuza, as it was wrong in his mind, and looked at the masked face before him.

"You cannot kill him. I won't let you," said Haku, as she felt the tip of Zangetsu touching her chest, and could pierce it at any moment.

"Move Haku. I don't want to kill you just to get to Zabuza," said Naruto, as he saw Haku still stand firm against him, and he had to give her credit for holding herself in place in the event of certain death.

"What are you waiting for loser? Kill the dumb bitch! She's giving you a free kill" Take it!" said Sasuke, as he would have done it himself, or capture her to become his wife to breed a powerful child out of the slightly older girl.

"I will defend Zabuza-sama with my life," said Haku, as she removed her mask, and let Naruto see the truth behind her words.

"Haku. Stop it," said Zabuza, as he clutched his side, and put his blood covered hand on her shoulder.

"Zabuza-sama?" said Haku, as she looked at him in surprise, and even more when he walked around her.

"The kid has me dead to rights. You know it, he knows it, and I know it. He got me on a fatal hit on my side, I'm bleeding out pretty badly, and what's more is the Namikaze here took off the blade of my sword at the hilt. Even if I could use Water Jutsus right now to get away with your help, it wouldn't stop him from finishing me off, and taking my head. By the rules that are the standard for every swordsman worth their honor and blade...I have to accept my death at his hands," said Zabuza, as he was instantly grabbed by Haku, and pleading with him not to do this.

"Don't! Surely there has to be some other way? Please Zabuza-sama!" said Haku, as she was now crying, and begging him to not leave her.

"Swordsman code Haku. If I break it, then I have no honor as a swordsman, and be called a disgrace to the profession. I may be many things Haku, but _that_ I am not, and will keep my honor as a swordsman in death," said Zabuza, as he saw Naruto nod his head, and got ready to thrust his sword into Zabuza's chest.

"What will I do without you? You are the only reason I'm even alive," said Haku, as she saw him look at her with kind eyes he never once shown her, and it was then the girl knew that he did love her like a daughter instead of just a tool.

"Go with the Namikaze. Mist may hate people with bloodlines, but the Leaf doesn't, and you aren't labeled a Missing Nin like I am so getting you in shouldn't be a problem," said Zabuza, who looked at Naruto with a meaning behind his eyes, and the Namikaze nodded knowing what the man wanted.

A one hundred percent guarantee Haku would be safe in the Leaf.

"Okay. Goodbye...my Father," said Haku, as she saw him smiling at her underneath his bandages on his face, and heard him let out a chuckle.

"Goodbye...my devoted daughter. If you ever find the right guy to settle down with and have a son...could you name him after me?" said Zabuza, as he wanted his name to at least live on in some manner, and this was as good as any.

"Of course," said Haku, as she nodded to Naruto after moving away from the man, and stabbed Zabuza right in his chest.

Naruto held Zangetsu there for a few seconds to see the life of Momochi Zabuza leave the man's eyes and into the afterlife that awaited him. The echoing clatter of the sword handle from the broken weapon was soon heard, as it left Zabuza's hand, and then his body fell to the ground after Naruto pulled his zanpakuto out of the Demon of the Mist's body. Walking over to the broken handle, the blonde had quietly picked it up, and then handed it to Haku currently looking at the ground with tears in her eyes.

"Take it. Take it to honor him," said Naruto, as he saw Haku look at him, and then at the sword handle with a slight piece of the sword at the top of the hilt.

"I'm not worthy," said Haku, as she saw Naruto side, and put the broken sword in her hand before channeling some spirit energy into the handle to absorb.

Why he did it, Naruto didn't know, but felt it was the right thing to do, and would pay off later on.

"Let the sword decide," said Naruto, as the handle glowed in Haku's hand, and a blade seemed to grow from the hilt up to a normal katana length sword.

"B-But how?" said Haku, as she looked at Naruto, and knew he had a hand in it.

"Come back with me to Konoha and I'll tell you everything," said Naruto simply.

"You would take me in? Give me a home?" said Haku, as she had always been alone before Zabuza, and had once told herself that she would sooner end her life instead of living without her precious person.

"Absolutely. Zabuza already asked it of me and I don't want the man haunting me from beyond the grave," said Naruto smiling at the girl, as he was soon brought into a hug, and Haku was now pushing his head into her bosom.

"Thank you! Thank you Naruto-kun!" said Haku, as she couldn't believe that this was happening to her, and that she was considered valuable again.

The joy abruptly ended when the whistling sound of several arrows being fired at them caught Naruto ears and he quickly spun around to use his back as a shield with the arrows piercing his flesh. Mentally, Naruto cursed himself for not learning how to manipulate his spirit energy to form nearly impenetrable skin from his parents, and made a special note in his head to do just that when they return to the Leaf.

"Just my luck. I come here to find Zabuza dead and his bitch finding herself in the arms of the enemy," said Gato, as he had an army of thugs with several of them each holding crossbows, and grinning at the sight of hitting one of their intended targets.

"You must be Gato," said Kakashi since the man was the only one among the group not holding a weapon, and had a cane in his hand while the other was in a sling.

"That's right. I'm actually kind of glad your boy killed Zabuza and left his bitch alive. I never intended on paying him since Missing Nin bring a lot of heat with them from their villages. The last thing I want is Mist breathing down _my_ neck because I hired someone they want dead so in the interest of good business I've decided to cut the man out of what was his and then perform what many would say would be a..._hostile takeover _of Wave Country," said Gato, as he grinned at the small group of Shinobi, and knew even if the Jounin were still fresh they could take all of his men.

Plus the two Genin watching over Tazuna right now looked so weak and helpless right now with the odds in his favor.

Just the way he liked it.

"Naruto-kun!" said Haku, as she felt him weakening, and frowned at the reason behind it.

"Don't expect him to help you ice bitch! Those arrows have a powerful neurotoxin coated in them that shuts down his mind and body at the same time. He will be dead before my men get to you and show what they think of your actions towards me from earlier before. They're all going to enjoy violating you, the pink haired girl, and that woman next to the Cyclops. Though I may keep _her_ for myself," said Gato, as he was waiting for his group to get Tazuna's daughter from their home, and bring her to him to further show he had all the cards in his favor.

It was just good..._business_!

He and his men laughing with him were silenced by another laugher. A laughter not from their own group. A laughter that was high pitched almost and sounded very much _insane_.

It was coming from Naruto still being held by Haku.

"Naruto-kun?" said Haku, as she felt something within him become different, dark, and the exact opposite of what she had come to know in the short time with him.

_**"So you think you can take this place over? Just like that? You'll have to forgive me on the grounds that I don't believe for a second you have the strength to do it with this group of **__**weaklings**__**!"**_ said Naruto slowly standing up straight, the arrows falling being pushed out of his skin onto the ground, the Namikaze was turning his head slightly for all to see a white shell of a growing mask consuming a quarter of his face.

Grinning a psychotic grin that made Anko look normal.

"What the Hell? You shouldn't be moving! You shouldn't even be alive!" said Gato, as he saw Naruto look at Haku for a second before stroking her cheek affectionately while saying something to her in that freaky voice, and then turned to towards the businessman surrounded by hired thugs grinning while he did.

The tip of Zangetsu was slowly scraping against the concrete of the bridge, which kicked up sparks, and the zanpakuto itself was now becoming wavy like an unnatural demonic flame covered it. The strange white mask on a quarter of Naruto's face now covered up to his left eye, and he was now breathing deeply like a beast hungry for blood.

_**"You think I'm going to lay down like some rabid dog just because you shot me with some crap that's supposed to put a normal animal down? I'm not normal. Nor is the my other half, who is currently out of it, and has unknowingly given control over to little old me. Don't worry, he's still the King of this body, but that could change if the gaki doesn't shape up, and do all the ass kicking our parents want him to do. As for **__**you**__** Gato, I'm going to see to it that you along with your band of horny animals get the more **__**extreme**__** version Bob Barker treatment, and simply wipe you off the face of the Earth!"**_ said the strange figure, who was possessing Naruto, and using his body.

"Who are you?" said Kakashi, as he saw the slightly masked blonde look at him for a second deep in thought, and wondered if this was Kyuubi taking over.

Or something else entirely.

_**"Me? I don't really have a name. Don't really care for one so just leave it at that. I'm still Naruto, but not really him, and just really his Hollow side coming out to have some fun. Don't worry, I'll let him have control **__**after**__** I deal with the corporate pig in front of us, and his gay band of butt fuckers,"**_ said the Hollow side of Naruto, as he raised Zangetsu over his head, and started cackling with insane laughter.

"Kill him! Kill him now and I'll give you all a big fat bonus!" said Gato, as he now felt something _evil_ coming off of this _thing_ with the weird sword.

_**"Time to die little piggy and no amount of money you have can save your ass!" **_said the Hollow part of Naruto, as he brought down his sword, and unleashed a thick moon shape crescent wave of spirit energy at the group of now thugs now fleeing from the attack.

There were no survivors.

'Oh God,' thought Kakashi, Kurenai, and Tazuna while the Genin along with Haku also looking at the scene with horror at the bloodbath in front of them.

_**"And that's the end of that chapter,"**_ said the Hollow side laughing hysterically again of Naruto before stiffening slightly and the mask around the blonde's face cracked before shattering with the boy falling down towards the ground.

Instantly, Haku was there to catch him before his face made contact with the ground, and turned him over to see Naruto was just unconscious. Alive, but currently unconscious at the moment, and for who knows how long? She instantly sensed a figure behind her, which brought Haku to full alert, as the girl quickly manifested senbon needles, and was prepared to unleash them on anyone trying to harm Naruto.

She saw the looks from the Uchiha from before and knew the arrogant boy would try to do something to Naruto just to spite him. Fortunately, the figure she was about to strike was not the Uchiha, nor the pink haired girl, but rather it was Kakashi himself, and from the stance he was taking...he wasn't a threat.

"It's all right Haku. I'm not going to hurt him or you for that matter. Since Gato is dead, the threat to Tazuna's life is over, and with Zabuza respectfully dead I'd like to know if you're officially trying to kill Tazuna too," said Kakashi, as he knew Haku wouldn't try anymore, but he needed to hear it just so the others did too, and not try to engage her in combat.

"No. I'm not your enemy anymore. My only purpose now is to serve and protect Naruto-sama," said Haku, as she held him close, and missed the various looks from the others.

'Hinata's not going to like this,' thought Kurenai, as she knew her student was shy, yet very protective of Naruto, and would no doubt see Haku as a threat to Naruto's heart.

'How dare that bitch serve him! She should be serving me and be my future wife,' thought Sasuke, as he was seething over Haku pledging her very being to Naruto, and not to an Uchiha Elite like himself.

'Stay away from my Sasuke-kun!' thought Sakura, as she was going to keep an eye on Haku, and make sure the girl stayed away from Sasuke.

"Okay. That's all I needed to hear. Let's take Naruto back to Tazuna's house where you can stay to keep an eye on him and to inform the rest of the people of Gato's..._defeat_," said Kakashi, as he saw the looks of protest on his two students, Kurenai, and Tazuna himself since it was...well _weird_ to have someone hired to kill him moments ago into his house simply because the person responsible for the hiring was dead.

"I accept your terms," said Haku, as she handed Naruto over to Kakashi, and followed him with the rest of the group to the old man's house.

The bridges construction could wait.

(Tazuna's House-Sometime Later)

If Tazuna had not thanked Naruto so many times already, the old man would have done so until his throat was sore, as it turned out keeping Team 8 at the house at the request of the Namikaze was a blessing, and had prevented Gato's thugs from kidnapping the old man's family. It also did wondered for Inari, as he saw Team 8 move quickly to dispatch the group Gato sent after them, and showed the boy that heroes did exist in the world.

As for Naruto himself, the blonde boy was out for the rest of the day into the night before waking up the next morning to Haku's upper body lying on top of him, and Hinata doing the same on the other. After Haku came to the house, the first thing that happened was Team 8 preparing to arrest her, but Kakashi told them to stand down despite the protest from Sasuke, and wanting to keep her like a prisoner.

Fortunately, Kakashi having seniority over both teams told the Uchiha such a thing would not happen, and she was coming back to Konoha while watching over Naruto until he had awakened. Hinata didn't like that one bit, which of course showed on her face the instant the words left Kakashi's mouth, and felt a surprising urge to use her Gentle Fist Taijutsu on the slightly older girl. However, Hinata was also had a good heart, and decided to keep her jealousy of the girl in check until the two could have a conversation about this.

Shino sensed no animosity towards Naruto, as he was a good judge of character, and a big follower of logic is the path to follow. Logic dictated the Aburame to the belief that Haku had no reason to harm Naruto, as the Namikaze had given Zabuza the honorable death of a swordsman the Missing Nin from Mist deserved, and Haku her teacher too much to hold a grudge against his slayer.

Kiba being the horny pervert Inuzuka he was, tried to hit on Haku in order to get into the young girl's pants, and was rewarded by being pinned to the house by senbon needles before being kneed viciously in the balls. The boy would be pissing blood for the next couple days afterwards and nursing his injured pride along with his masculinity long after.

'My head feels like its on fire,' thought Naruto, as he tried to remember what it was that happened after getting hit by those three neurotoxin laced arrows, and could only recall the darkness creeping along his eyes.

He moved a little to see the room was one of the few guest rooms Tazuna's house had and his actions caused both girls lying partially on top of him to awaken from their sleep. The instant they did, each grabbed hold of him, and hugged the Namikaze with everything they had.

Until they both noticed what the other was doing to him and glared at each other in an effort to force the opposing female to let go of Naruto.

'Naruto-sama/kun is mine!' thought Hinata and Haku at the same time.

"Hey now you two. None of that," said Naruto, as he saw the signs of fighting for his affection, and wasn't going to have the two duke it out like Sasuke's fan girls at the Academy.

"Sorry Naruto-sama/kun," said the two girls at the same time and Naruto saw both of their eyebrows twitch at the suffix each used for him.

"Better. Now, I know you weren't at the bridge Hinata-chan so I need _you_ Haku-chan to tell me what happened after I got hit by those three arrows," said Naruto with Haku telling him what happened on the bridge with his Hollow side and Hinata listening to what the girl had to say.

"And that's what happened Naruto-sama," said Haku, as she saw him deep in thought about what happened, and hoped this side of the Namikaze didn't threaten to destroy him.

"Well that explains why I can't remember much. Sorry if that part of me frightened you. From what you described, it seems my Hollow side has come out, which is basically the negative side of my life manifested into pale looking opposite of myself, and only comes out on extreme situations," said Naruto, as he had this talk with his parents about such an event happening, and that only he could handle that side of himself.

Provided his Hollow side didn't decided to take over his body permanently anytime soon.

"He mentioned something like that. How you were still the 'King' of your body, but that would change unless you improved, and got stronger," said Haku, as she saw Naruto now looked concerned by that, and knew his Hollow side may come out later on if things got really bad for him.

And next time the Hollow side may just stick around.

"I can't worry about my Hollow side now. I'll have to talk to my parents about it and see what they know about such things," said Naruto, as he let out a sigh, and ran his hand through his hair.

Things just kept getting complicated.

By the end of the week, the bridge had been finished, and it was now time for the two Leaf Shinobi teams plus Haku to take their leave. During the week, Haku had shown Kakashi where Gato's hideout had been in Wave Country, and proceeded to raid the place of all the resources it had that could go to once suffocating area. What they found was quite a bit of wealth stocked up over the years from Gato's leeching, which included money, bank records, bank account numbers, and everything needed to help get the poor country back on its feet along with paying for the mission entirely in the process.

"So you got to leave huh? Sure you can't stay just _one_ day longer?" said Tazuna, as he saw Naruto shake his head, and give an apologetic no.

"Sorry old man. We have to report to the Hokage about the mission being a success and when duty calls we listen," said Naruto, as he saw the people of Wave Country seeing them off after hearing about Gato being slain, and the blight on their lives being lifted.

"Fair enough. Come by next time when you're in town. In a few more years, I may have you date my daughter, and give me another Grandson. OW!" said Tazuna,. who was hit in the head with a frying pan by Tsunami currently blushing, and hearing her call him "drunken old pervert".

Hinata along with Haku would have hit Tazuna too, but feared to lose their spot right next to the Namikaze boy, and instead moved one small step closer to him.

"We'll see. No promises. What about you Inari? You going to grow up strong to help out your Mother and Grandfather," said Naruto ruffling the kids hair.

"Of course! After seeing you guys do what you had to do to fight off Gato, I'm going to do the same, and be strong just like my dad was!" said Inari, as he wasn't going to hide anymore, and make his family proud.

"I know you will. See you around Inari," said Naruto, as he ruffled the kids hair again, and left with the others back to the Leaf.

"Wait! What do we name the bridge?" said Inari, as they realized the bridge had yet to be named, and now was good a time as any.

"How about we name it in honor of our new hero? The Super Great Naruto Bridge!" said Tazuna, as he saw the people sweat drop, and Inari shaking his head.

"Let's take out the 'Super' part and call it The Great Naruto Bridge," said Inari getting the people cheering at the idea.

"I still think Super should be put into the name. OW!" said Tazuna, as he was hit again by Tsunami's frying pan, and rubbed his head while a lump appeared on his head.

(Omake-Chappy the Bunny's Revenge)

The massive bunny stomped towards Konoha, roaring in anger at the people below, shooting laser beams from its eyes, and shooting fire from its mouth. On its ears stood Haku laughing insanely with a shirtless Naruto by her side, as the bunny stomped all of Konoha flat with its mighty floppy feet, and shaking the ground with each jump it made.

"Oh Naruto-kun! My lover! My precious person! After this is over, I wish to make love to you, and give birth to an army of children that will lead the Elemental Countries to a life of peace," said Haku, as she kissed Naruto passionately, and the blonde kissed back with equal passion.

"I agree! In fact, we can make love right now since Chappy has everything under control, and no one in Konoha has the power to defeat him since he is a walking God thanks to our own love giving him the strength to become what he is now!" said Naruto laughing, as the cries of the people below were music to their ears, and instantly ripped Haku's clothing off to reveal herself to him in all her naked glory.

"Take me Naruto-kun!" said Haku, as she leaped at him, tearing what clothing he had on from his body, and began their passionate love making session on top of Chappy's head.

Nothing could ruin this! Nothing!

"HAKU-CHAN!" yelled Kiba into Haku's ear causing the dream she was having to be shattered into a thousand pieces and making the girl _very_ angry.

"What?" said Haku her voice was icy while barely being a whisper that Kiba thought was just from still being sleepy after forced to wake up.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me tomorrow and we could...," said Kiba, but the killer intent coming off Haku froze the boy at the camp site the group was at, and everyone felt it while the majority of them not feeling an ounce of pity for the dumb Inuzuka.

Mostly because he also woke them up too.

"You...woke me up...from a _very_ _happy_ dream...just so you could...could ask me out on a date for..._tomorrow_? CHAPPY!" said Haku with the bunny by her side and Kiba looked afraid right now.

As he should be.

"Yes Haku-sama," said Chappy making Kiba's eyes bug out in surprise.

'When could Haku's fucking bunny even talk?' thought Kiba now backing up while his dog Akamaru had chosen to run away Kakashi's side.

_**"KIIILLL HIM!"**_ yelled Haku in a demonic voice that made Kiba shit himself before he took off running and Chappy chasing after the Inuzuka now sporting sharp knifes in its hands.

"AAAAHHHH!" cried Kiba, as he ran for his life, and Haku was laughing evilly at the sight of her precious Chappy destroying the dumb baka for ruining her dream.

Only to wake up from it by a gentle nudge from Naruto.

"Haku-chan. Its time to wake up. Its breakfast time," said Naruto in a soothing voice and the female ice user groaned a little before complying.

"I was having the most wonderful dream. You were in it, Chappy was in it, and he was killing Kiba for waking me up for some stupid reason," said Haku, as she sat down with the others, and ate her breakfast without complaint.

"Really? Me too!" said Hinata, as she had a similar dream of an older version of herself on a large bunny attacking Konoha, down to the whole scene where she made sweet love to Naruto, but didn't understand how a bunny came into the picture, and why she was on it with Naruto destroying Konoha.

Off to the side watching them, Chappy narrowed its eyes, and had a scheming look upon his face.

'Soon. Soon the vision they mistake as dreams will become reality and Chappy the Bunny will rule the Elemental Countries,' thought Chappy while mentally laughing evilly.

Among the group, Kiba shivered slightly, and wondered why he felt so afraid of Haku's bunny?

(End Omake)

(A/N: YAY! I updated and what an update it is. Almost _30_ pages here. I kid you not! How's _this _for an update. LOL! The polls have spoken and Haku is a girl and is going to be with Naruto. It was a land slide in terms of a yes for all of you who voted no. Sorry you guys, but the people have spoken, and they spoke with a loudspeaker with a huge Surround Sound Stereo setup. Hope you loved the Omake. Until next time...PEACE!)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6- Inner Hollows and Exams

(A/N: Namikaze09 helped me with the first part of this up to nearly half of this. Want to say thank you to my good buddy for his help. Couldn't have written it better myself. Thank you!)

Team 7 and Team 8 along with Haku have just made it to the front of the main gate of Konoha Haku was nervous and holding Chappy close to her. Naruto notices and places a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey Haku-chan don't be nervous. Everything's gonna be fine." He answered trying to help her calm down.

"I'm sorry Naruto-sama. I just hope the Hokage will accept me as a ninja for the village," Haku said hoping that the Hokage was not like the Mizukage who started the bloodline purge. Naruto smiled and gives her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Hey don't worry. My godmother is nothing like that baka of a Mizukage and this village accepts bloodlines. She may have one hell of a temper but that's only if you piss her off. She told me that when she caught her teammate peaking on her in the hot springs she beat him near an inch of his life, breaking almost every single bone in his body and rupturing several organs." He answered causing her eyes to widen.

"Wow. She actually did that?" She asks. She knew that Tsunade Senju was the strongest Kunoichi and female in the elementals but to beat a man near an inch of his life like that was amazing yet scary. "Yep, and if two certain males in this group don't get their act together I'll be giving a demonstration of what she did to him using their bodies as an example." He said with a grin that would make his father proud.

Sasuke and Kiba heard this and glared at the blonde wanting to beat the crap out of him and putt him in his place.

"You wanna say that to my face loser?" Sasuke challenged.

"Yeah, I do. You think you're tough just because you have that sword on your back? Let's see you act tough without it in your possession," Kiba growled out while Akamaru made a noise similar to a groan due to the fact that his partner was asking for an ass kicking and was just gonna stand there and watch Kiba get his ass kicked by the blonde alpha.

Naruto's response was giving them the middle finger which pissed them off even more.

Hinata giggled and tapped him on the shoulder.

"That wasn't nice Naruto-kun." She says while the blonde shrugged.

"I know. I wasn't being nice." He answered.

Sakura glared at the Namikaze also and muttered the words demon brat and demon whores while they walked towards the gate until Naruto paused.

"Hey iron board I'd shut up if I were you. The only whores here and in the village are you and your parents so shut the hell up or I'll brand the words 'Uchiha's Bitch' on that super sized forehead of yours." Naruto said causing her to growl and was about to screech until Naruto turned his head and gave her an icy glare that said shut up or I'll break you in half.

(Hokage Tower)

Tsunade was in her office finished with all her paper and had a sake bottle out. She was about to take her first sip out of it until the door was kicked opened and she almost dropped her bottle with and scrambled to shove it back in her desk. She looked up and saw her Godson grinning with his hands in his pockets while the others walked in as well. The ANBU in the shadows had sweat drops on the back of their heads when they saw their leader's reaction.

Tsunade glared at Naruto who was still smiling at her.

"Damn it Naruto can't you ever knock instead of just barging in like this? I swear you act more and more like your 'dad' everyday." She mumbled and was praying to Kami and the Shinigami that he doesn't become like Grimmjow.

While he has also inherited his adopted mother's calm, cold, and calculative personality for when it was required, he can also be if not as sadistic, and cunning like his adopted dad. _And_ if he gets pissed off…. well let just say you better pray to Kami for mercy because Naruto won't show any.

"I love you to Godmother." He says causing her to sigh in frustration until Kakashi and Kurenai stepped forward.

"Report!" Tsunade orders as her elite ninja stood at attention.

"The escort mission was a success Hokage-sama. Tazuna-san managed to complete the bridge and wave country will be back to normal. We manage to also liberate Gato and his hired help- correction Naruto managed to deal with Gato and his hired help on his own." Kakashi answered getting a nod of agreement from Kurenai.

Tsunade's eyes widen when she heard what Naruto did and they returned to normal.

"I see. And what about Zabuza Momochi?" She asks and a smirk appeared behind

Kakashi's mask.

"Naruto killed him." He answered like it was the simplest thing in the world.

There was a moment of silence.

"WHAT?" Tsunade screamed and jumped out of her seat not believing what she was hearing. "I said Naruto killed him Tsunade-sama.

He engaged Zabuza in a Kenjutsu match to the death and managed to make a fatal blow on the man." He explained.

Tsunade was shocked beyond belief. Her godson who was a mere Genin managed to beat and kill one of the seven swordsman of the mist. It was too good to be true.

"Unbelievable." She says and slumps back into her seat rubbing her temples.

She then looked up and saw a girl with long black hair and was carrying a white rabbit in her arms.

"And who are you?" She asks.

"I am Haku Momochi. Momochi Zabuza's adopted daughter. I was trained in the arts of the Shinobi but I was never licensed as a Shinobi in any village. I was a refugee from the bloodline purge in Mist." She answered hoping Naruto was right about his godmother being a kind and caring woman.

Tsunade studies the girl with a calculative eye for a while and then speaks up.

"So tell me Haku, _why_ did you decide to come to the village?" She asks the ice user who was now a nervous wreak until Naruto decided to come to her rescue.

"She decided to come because after I defeated her father he asked me if I will protect Haku-chan and bring her back here as his final request. I told him that I would honor his request since our village accepts bloodlines and since he was the only family she had left in the world I didn't want to go back to living a life of loneliness and despair like she did before she met Zabuza." He answered.

"And so that you know godmother she has a bloodline based off of ice and knowing the oh so esteemed _council _they will make an attempt to use her as a breeding factory or marry her off to some prick I this village. I'm letting you know this. She is under the protection of the Namikaze Clan and she will _not _be forced to do something against her will because I will kill anybody who tries to harm her. Council member or not." He says in a dark tone with his eyes matching it.

He knew his Godmother would have to report this to the council and knew that certain members will try to pull something and if Naruto kills them… well then she'll no longer have stressful headaches knowing that her godson will break if not kill anyone who tries to harm his friends or family rules be damned.

He had his way of solving political issues and that was with his fists and sword. Tsunade smiles and nods at his explanation, glad that her godson while odd was honorable unlike 90% of the village. She was gonna personally thank Tia and to an extent Grimmjow for their parenting of Naruto.

"Very well then. Haku since you are under the protection of the Namikaze clan you'll have full citizenship in the village. Are you by any chance interested in being a ninja and if so how strong are you?" She asks seeing the girl fidget a little before answering.

"Well I would like to be a combat medic and learn more of the medical arts and my level is high Chuunin to low Jounin." She answered. Tsunade's eyes widen in amazement and could tell this girl was strong for her age.

"Trust me Godmother, she's got strength, and skill all in one. Haku kicked Mr. Emo's ass in a spar on the way home even after he activated his Sharingan eyes during the sparring without batting an eyelash at the sudden change." Naruto said nonchalantly while Sasuke clenched his fists and glared at Naruto with all the hate he could muster.

"Shut up dobe! That bitch got lucky and next time I will make her regret facing an elite like mysel- _Oomph!_" Sasuke found himself hunched over with a fist buried in his gut courtesy to Naruto who then slammed him into a wall.

"I thought I made it clear to you that you are a nobody Uchiha and that I never want to hear you call any female minus iron board a bitch in my presence or I'd make you regret it. You are nothing but a runt just like your looser of a father who need I remind you mouthed off to my father and got a one way ticket to hell. Do you want me to give you an example of what he did to that prick by sending you to hell to meet with him?" He asks coldly and Sasuke who decided to be smart for once shook his head.

"Good now get the fuck out my sight runt before I run you through with my blade." He growled out and threw the prick away from him and falling on his ass rubbing his throat.

Sasuke got up slowly and glared at Naruto before leaving the office.

'I'll make you pay for humiliating me demon. Just you wait.' He thought while keeping his mouth shut for now and wait for the opportunity he was waiting for.

Sakura however wasn't as smart as she thought and decided to make a fool out of herself.

"You damn demon why do you always pick a fight with Sasuke-kun? My parent's were right! You _are_ the Kyuubi and a demon just like your idiot of a father and that bitch of a woman you call a mother!" with Sakura going into ranting mode, which she would have done, _but_ before she could do what came natural to her, the pink haired girl was snatched up by the collar of her shirt by Tsunade, and stared at the pissed beyond belief Hokage.

"Little girl who told you about that? That is an S-class law that if revealed is considered treason and the punishment is death now tell me who told you or I'll kill you myself." She growled out and added pressure on the girls throat.

"M-my parents did H-Hokage-sama. They said Naruto-baka was a demon and deserved to die." She answered while Tsunade dropped her on her feet while the bitch was thinking that her father's position on the council will save her.

Wrong!

She was then flicked out of the office and into a wall by Tsunade's finger and was knocked out. "ANBU!" She yelled out and four of them appeared. "Bring in Sakura Haruno's parents for question and if they resist you are permitted to use force even if you have to break every bone in their body. After I have a little chat with them, send them to Ibiki for questioning and as for the girl take her to Ibiki as well." She ordered while Kakashi and Kurenai shivered at the mention of his name.

The ANBU nodded and shunshin away while Naruto grinned.

"I would say I feel sorry for them but then I'd be lying." He says while grinning a grin worthy of his old man before turning to look at his Godmother again.

'Good riddance!' thought Hinata and Haku since they couldn't take the sight of that girl anymore.

Was she even a girl?

"So do you need anything else Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked in a sarcastic manner and Tsunade bops him on the head for his sarcasm at the title though the blow does little to hurt him.

His parents fists hurt a lot more from when they trained him.

"You may be my Godson Naruto, but I will thump you good if you keep acting like your father, and yes you may go and show Haku around the village for a while before heading home. You're all dismissed." She says as they all start to leave.

When they were in the hallway, Hinata walks over to Naruto and Haku.

"Umm Naruto-kun can I join you?" She asks wanting to spend more time with her crush.

Naruto shrugs and nods.

"Sure, but no fighting Hinata-chan. I want you and Haku-chan to get along and be friends instead of fan girls wanting my affection. Got it?" He asks in a serious tone because while he liked them both he didn't want their competition for his affection come in between them.

Hinata sees how serious he is and nods as does Haku. His serious look then becomes a grin.

"Cool now lets go." He says wrapping an arm around their waist, making them blush. Kiba was growling at what he was doing with his girl and was gonna give him a piece of his mind until Naruto flash stepped away with Haku and Hinata.

"Damn it." He growled gritting his teeth in anger and stomps off to the Inuzuka compound.

(Uchiha Compound)

Uchiha Mikoto was in the kitchen preparing dinner while her eldest son Itachi was finishing up some paperwork from the Police force the Uchiha clan was in charge of. That was when the slide door opened and Sasuke walked in the estate with a pissed expression on his face. Mikoto saw this and was inwardly sighing wondering where she went wrong with her youngest son.

Itachi saw his younger brother's expression and rolled his eyes a little. Sasuke then approached the opposite side of the table of where his brother was sitting and sat down glaring at the table.

"Hey Sasuke-kun. How was the mission to wave country?" She asked.

"We succeeded but that demon who is known as a Namikaze got in my way!" He said in a tone filled with anger.

Mikoto tensed up when he said demon and Itachi narrowed his eyes knowing he heard that tone of hate all to well from the late former Head of the Uchiha Clan.

"I should've known that he didn't gain that power all on his own when he said how he had the Kyuubi sealed into him when we were at the bridge builder's house. He must've gained that power from the demon and his _parents_." He said saying parents with venom in his voice.

'He sounds just like Father in regards to Naruto,' thought Itachi, as he had heard this long from his Father right after the Kyuubi's attack had ended, and it was most...annoying

"But that's not the worse of it. That demon manage to beat and kill Zabuza Momochi and that Gato person along with his hired help." He growled out while he clenched his fists in anger.

Itachi's eyes widen a little when he heard that Naruto Namikaze, a mere Genin graduate manage to beat _one_ of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

"He defeated one of the seven swordsmen of the mist and lived?" Itachi asks and was now very interested in Naruto's potential as a ninja.

Sasuke saw the look of astonishment on his older brother's face and was pissed off and jealous of Naruto gaining Itachi's new found attention.

"That was only because of the power he had and without it he would be nothing. I gained my Sharingan and with it the Namikaze is nothing but a weakling." He said with a sneer on his face.

Itachi shook his head and spoke up in his usual firm yet soft voice.

"The same could be said about our Sharingan little brother and without _it _we too would be nothing and don't think just because you have awakened you Sharingan makes you invisible because that train of thought will cost you your life out on a mission or in the battlefield." Itachi warned while Sasuke scowled, not liking the fact that Itachi would insult their clan's bloodline.

Said clan head got up and was heading for the door.

"Itachi-kun where are you going?" Mikoto asks seeing her oldest son heading towards the door.

"I'm going to look for Naruto-san and test his skill level. To beat even one member of the strongest organization in Mist is an astonishing feat for someone his age and I highly doubt if I could've pulled that off at his age." Itachi said and that was Sasuke stood up.

"I'm coming too. I want to see the look on that fool's face when you beat him to the ground." Sasuke says with a smirk on his face and enjoying the thought of Naruto being beaten down.

Itachi however, frowned at the smirk on Sasuke's face, and decided to remove it from his younger brother.

"No. You will stay here Sasuke and will not interfere." He said and Sasuke had a look of shock of anger on his face.

He was about to speak up until Itachi activated his eyes making Sasuke freeze right on the spot.

"You are going to stay here little brother and that is an order. You should even consider yourself lucky that I don't report you to the Hokage for breaking an S class law and speaking of Naruto-san's condition." He said in a cold tone and Sasuke knew he wasn't kidding.

The last time he saw Itachi this angry was shortly after becoming Clan Head when a few members of the police force wanted to avenge their former leader but instead got beaten near an inch of their life by Itachi and afterwards had their eyes sealed away, dishonored publicly, and removed from the Uchiha Clan.

Itachi proved why he was the new clan head that day and stated that he will not tolerate their attitudes and warned the rest of them that if they tried anything that he would _personally_ deal with them.

"I will not allow your _ignorance_ and attitude towards the Hokage's Godson destroy what little dignity this clan has left. You will learn how to respect your superiors even if I have to beat it into your head. You're weak and will forever be weak if you don't get your act together and if you think this is finished it isn't. When I return, you will be punished accordingly, and if you follow me your punishment will be _doubled_." Itachi said while Sasuke just stood there not saying anything.

The Uchiha clan head left to get some of his gear and couldn't help but be anxious when testing Naruto's skill.

(Namikaze Estates-Sometime Later)

"Well brat, I didn't think you were at that level of maturity yet, but it seems I was wrong, and you nabbed yourself another girlfriend to go along with the shy Hyuuga girl," said Grimmjow, as he laughed at Haku's, and Hinata's blushing faces after hearing the details of the mission with Tia bopping her lover over the head for his words.

"Baka! You should be focusing on Naruto's Hollow transformation! Its clear his Hollow side has decided to make its appearance, but only when your under certain amount of life threatening changes, and needs to give you a surprising edge in the fight," said Tia, as she saw Naruto nod in understanding, and had a serious look on his face.

"You think my Hollow side is a threat or could be in the future?" said Naruto, as he did not know if his Hollow side would take over, and hurt those he cared about.

"Don't know gaki. We're Arrancars and you're a Vizard in training. Though from what I recall from the Vizard I encountered with your problem, the guy was fighting his inner Hollow because he didn't want to use its power, and the two were at odds with each other. My advice, is to get strong enough to use your Hollow side's powers, but not let him take control over your body, and deal with him if he tries to later on," said Grimmjow, as he knew that Naruto was a lot like Ichigo, but different at the same time, and that difference could be the key needed for his son to get the Hollow within him under control.

"I'll deal with him later. Right now, I need to help get Haku settled in here at our home, and one of you two needs to be a the next meeting the Hokage will have about this," said Naruto, as he along with Grimmjow looked at Tia, and the woman looked at both of them with quick eye glances.

"What? You're expecting _me_ to go to one of those things again?" said Tia, as she had little patience for those squabbling fools, and found the Clan Heads to be the only people at the meetings worth being around besides the Hokage.

"If dad went there, he'd lose his temper in a second, and cause the Hokage more problems with doing more paperwork," said Naruto, as he saw his Father grin at him, and saw his Mother narrow her eyes slightly.

"Fine! I'll go to it, but you're going to owe me later Grimmjow," said Tia, as she saw Grimmjow grimace, and knew she had him there.

More would have been said if not for the knocking on the door of the home and Uchiha Itachi being behind the door itself when opened.

"Hello Naruto-kun. Is this a bad time?" said Itachi, as he saw the blonde shake his head no, and motioned for the Uchiha Head to enter.

"Not at all. What brings you hear Itachi-san?" said Naruto, as the man was practically the _only_ Uchiha so far in the clan that the blonde could tolerate, and even say he respected out of all of them.

"My little brother has informed me about your accomplishment in killing Momochi Zabuza. Considering he was once a member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, it is quite the achievement, and wanted to test your skills for myself," said Itachi, as he saw Haku flinch at the mention of her adopted Father being killed, and the Uchiha made a quick mental note to tread carefully on the subject since it was clear to the man she was somehow connected to the late Missing Mist Nin.

"Sure! I heard you're quite the Prodigy yourself, but never let it go to your head, and give you a big ego," said Naruto, as he saw Itachi smirk since that was the case, and managed to keep his head clear despite the pressure from the rest of the Uchiha Clan wanting the man to be the best.

Truth be told, Itachi had felt the pressure getting to him quite a bit, and it was only thanks to his late Father's death did things change.

"Your Mother, Uzumaki Kushina had a hand in that part of my life, and she helped me during the last Shinobi War when I nearly lost my mind to the madness," said Itachi, as he walked outside with the blonde while the others behind them followed to see the Uchiha Clan Head in action, and see if he was indeed the Prodigy everyone labeled him to be.

"Really? I didn't know that. Could you tell me about her from your perspective when we are done sparring?" said Naruto, as he got into a fighting stance, and Itachi did the same.

"I'd be honored. Now what are the rules of this spar?" said Itachi, as he saw drew his sword, and Naruto brought out his own.

"No Sharingan from you and no Flash Step from me. Ready?" said Naruto, as he saw Itachi nod, and the two waited for the leaf falling down slowly to the ground to touch down.

The instant it did, Naruto rushed at Itachi with incredible speed that almost made the Uchiha activate his Sharingan on reflex, and barely blocked the boy's zanpakuto from cutting him in half. Itachi soon countered with a complex maneuver of a horizontal slash, followed by a vertical slash downward, and a quick spin backward stab maneuver that Naruto stopped with the flat end of Zangetsu. Both held their ground with sparks flashing from the pressure the two blades resisting the other in the deadlock created. They quickly jumped away before clashing swords again Itachi found himself actually tempted to use the Sharingan to keep up with Naruto since the blonde was making quite a few moves that nearly hit the Uchiha Clan Head at certain points of his body that would have caused significant damage had they connected.

'He's good. I can see why Zabuza had such a hard time with him from the start,' thought Itachi, as he knew all about Demon of the Mist, and the man being a Master at the silent killing technique that even the Uchiha himself could have fallen under if careless enough.

'Damn! Itachi is as a good as they say. Hell, he could become Hokage if he wanted to, and be a good one at that,' thought Naruto, as he knew the only reason Itachi didn't was because his clan would abuse the man's title by doing things in his name, and making things worse.

"Enough! I have seen all I need to see. Your skills are indeed impressive Naruto-kun. I can see you are indeed the Yondaime's Son for progressing so far and defeating a strong enemy like Momochi Zabuza," said Itachi, as he put away his sword, and bows to Naruto in terms of respect with the blonde doing the same.

"The same to you Itachi," said Naruto, as he had a new found respect for man, and the knowledge he had a potential friend out of this.

As Itachi left the Namikaze Estates, he couldn't help wonder what it would have been like to fight Naruto with everything he had, and came to the realization that the boy was close to his level of power if not already. Granted, Itachi had battle experience, and when times called for it the Sharingan Eyes of his clan. However, Naruto had a few powerful tricks up his own sleeve too, and they were things Itachi had serious doubts could be countered by his bloodline limit.

In short, Naruto would one day surpass him, and that day could be sooner then later if the blonde kept growing at his current pace.

It was kind of scary.

(2 Weeks Later)

Naruto was feeling awesome right now. Why? One, Haku was staying at his home, and was showing how her bloodline limit worked. Not only that, but the girl's sword training was also progressing well each time they sparred, and the blonde became a real slave driver when it came to their Kenjutsu matches. Not surprising, but Haku was showing she had quite the endurance for it, and wasn't like Sakura whom had been freed from her little _session_ with Ibiki while the girl's parents were not so lucky.

Apparently, they were part of a secret group within Konoha to hurt Naruto in anyway possible, and had named quite a few names before they were executed for treason. Sakura was soon made a ward of the state before Yamanaka Inoichi adopted her for Ino's sake since the two had been friends at the Academy, but he had stipulated to the pink haired girl that she was to keep her mouth shut when it came to Naruto, and that _if_ there was a next time...she was doomed!

Sakura agreed without question though she would be twitchy at the slightest unexpected noise that caught her ears.

Another reason Naruto was happy was his Godmother had secretly told him about the upcoming Chuunin Exams were happening soon, and Kakashi had nominated his team to participate with the rest of the Rookies. While Naruto didn't care for some of them like Kiba or Sasuke to name a few, the blonde did care about the others, and hoped they were strong enough to succeed in making it far.

'Nothing could ruin my happiness right now,' thought Naruto, as he was walking along the streets of Konoha, and stopped when he heard a cry for help from a familiar source.

Sarutobi Konohamaru.

While Naruto despised the old man for his actions, the blonde didn't hate his Grandson since the kid was innocent like he had been regarding the sealing of the fox, and didn't wish to be heartless like others would in his place. So Naruto Flash Stepped towards the commotion to see the Sandaime's Grandson being picked on by a weird guy, possibly girl due to the person wearing makeup, and was in a cat suit.

"You little brat! How dare you run into me. Time to teach you to respect your betters from another village!" said the boy judging from the voice sounding male, which for some reason made it creepy for Naruto hear this, and saw a smoking hot pig tailed blonde girl with a fan strapped to her back looking a bit nervous.

"Kankuro! We don't have time for this," said the girl looking behind her like she was half expecting someone to intervene.

"Shut it Temari! This kid bumped into me and now he has to pay. Any last words before I knock your lights out?" said Kankuro grinning at the kid.

"Yeah I do! Why are you wearing makeup? Are you one of those transgender people?" said Konohamaru getting a pissed off look from Kankuro and a giggle from Temari.

"Its war paint! And for that little remark, I'm going to smash your face in extra hard, and leave quite a few scars to make everyone know the Leaf isn't the strongest of all the Shinobi villages," said Kankuro, as he cocked his fist back, and was about to punch the boy if not for the sword he spotted out of the corner of his eye coming at him.

Kankuro instantly dropped Konohamaru before jumping back and saw the sword miss him while hitting the wooden fence in his place. Following the white cloth attached to the strange looking sword, Kankuro saw it stop at a hand with the hand connected to a body, and the body of one Namikaze Naruto _hovering_ above them in the _air_.

"Boss!" said Konohamaru, as he recalled meeting Naruto once when his Uncle Asuma had taken him to meet Tsunade, and the Namikaze was in the room talking to her.

While Asuma was talking to the Tsunade about the once again retired Sandaime Hokage, Naruto had gauged Konohamaru with a calculating eye, and simply stated "you are weak" to the younger boy's face. Of course, this prompted Konohamaru to explode in rage, and demanded Naruto take it back with the Namikaze smirking before making a hand motion for the boy to make him. Konohamaru charged at Naruto with a kunai in hand, but Naruto instantly drew his sword, and brought the blade within a fraction of the kid's throat with killer intent covering the child. It was then Naruto told Konohamaru that he shouldn't live in the realm of the ignorant in the belief that one's family name will make you strong, but will make you weak, and should train to the point of exhaustion in order to become a true Shinobi of the Leaf.

Since then, Konohamaru had done just that, but when the boy wasn't training at home, the kid had been hanging around Naruto when the chance came up, and called the Namikaze "Boss". Even more interesting was Konohamaru's two friends, Moegi, and Udon from the Academy had even become part of the group that wanted to learn all they could from Naruto to be strong like him.

Grimmjow thought it was hysterical while Tia thought it was cute in a weird way while both thinking the trio may one day be Naruto's Genin team.

"Who are you? And how the Hell are you floating in the air like that?" said Kankuro, as he saw Naruto pull his sword back, and began to spin it horizontally.

"My name's not important nor is how I'm up here and your down there. Now tell me why you and the hot blonde chick are here in the Leaf?" said Naruto, as he saw Kankuro glare, and Temari blushing beet red.

"We're traveling from Suna for the Chuunin Exams being held here," said Temari, as she saw Naruto nod, and then look over to the nearby tree.

"And silent psycho over there hanging upside down on that tree branch like a bat is your teammate I take it?" said Naruto, as he looked to where a redheaded boy was, and then saw him appear before the Suna Nin.

"G-Gaara, I-I'm...," said Kankuro, but the narrowing eyes of Gaara made the cat suit wearing boy freeze, and hoped he wasn't going to die right now.

"Shut up...or I'll kill you," said Gaara, as he turned to look up at Naruto, only to find him not there, but rather behind him, and the strange sword now on the Namikaze's shoulder.

"Keep your gender confused teammate on a leash or I'll put him down. The same goes for you," said Naruto to Gaara, who just nodded slightly, and turned to leave before stopping for a second.

"What's your name?" said Gaara, as he saw Naruto was about to scold Konohamaru, and turned slightly to look back.

"Namikaze Naruto. I look forward to fight you in the Chuunin Exams," said Naruto, as he took the Sandaime's Grandson with him via Flash Step to scold him in private, and then go to his team meeting where Kakashi would hand them forms for the Chuunin Exams itself.

(Konoha Shinobi Academy-1 Week Later)

"Today's the big day. Wish me luck Haku-chan!" said Naruto, as he was standing beside Haku, who wished to walk with him to the Academy, and give him her own support in this before reporting to the hospital for training with Shizune.

"I wish you all the luck in the world Naruto-kun and look forward to seeing you become a Chuunin," said Haku, as she had taken some time to not calling him "Naruto-sama", and had chosen her bedroom to be right next to his own.

Grimmjow joked the girl wanted to be close to his son when the "itch" came that only Naruto could "scratch", which got the former Espada punched through a wall by Tia for his perverseness, and told Haku to keep such "itches" under control should they arise.

Haku nodded while her face stayed cherry red for a bit after that conversation.

"See you soon Haku-chan," said Naruto, as he kissed her on the cheek, and headed in where his teammates would be.

As for Haku herself, she was almost skipping towards the hospital, and with a glow that no one could remove from her person.

(Academy Second Floor-Moments Later)

"Stop walking so slowly Uchiha. No one cares that they see you," said Naruto, as he was walking up the stairs with his hands in his pockets like his Father would, and came across a small fight at Room# 202 though a Genjutsu was over it saying it was Room# 302.

"Shut up before I make you Namikaze," said Sasuke, as he narrowed his eyes at Naruto, and turned to see Sakura was a bit...twitchy from her time in Konoha's T&I Department.

BAM!

Naruto's fist met Sasuke's face and face the Uchiha mean black eye before the floor took over in terms of contact with the duck ass haired boy's body.

"How about you shut up before I break your neck! Now come on. We're going to be late," said Naruto, as he kept walking while people were looking at Team 7 in surprise to see the blonde knocking the Uchiha down like he was someone's redheaded stepchild.

"Causing trouble for your team Naruto-kun?" said Tenten, as she saw the blonde smirk at her, and shrug in response to the question.

"Maybe, but nothing they haven't tried to do to me first, and I just wish they'd learn their lesson for once Ten-chan," said Naruto with Tenten blushing at his nickname for her, as he saw Rock Lee looking behind him at Sakura, and the blonde knew the boy's feelings for the girl were not going to be returned.

"Tenten, we need to hurry before the exams start, and take a seat in Room# 302," said Neji before glaring slightly at Naruto, who raised an eyebrow at the Hyuuga Branch member, and sensed hostility from the boy.

"What a coincidence so is my team! Though if you're looking for Room# 302, you need to go up one more floor, and ignore this one since there a Genjutsu over it," said Naruto, as he whispered that last part, and saw Tenten glare at Neji since the boy's optical based bloodline could have told them that.

Neji sneered slightly at being told this like he was an idiot.

"I'll...keep that in mind," said Neji his mouth twitching to fight back the sneer, as he left with Rock Lee, and Tenten to the third floor while Naruto himself dragged his teammates to the same area so the weak would be stuck here.

'Great! Just great! Another arrogant prick with an attitude,' thought Naruto, as he walked past the two Chuunin under a henge, and gave them a look that said "attack me and I'll fucking kill you".

"Is it me or did that kid make you want to shit in your pants?" said the one Chuunin to his friend before sniffing something fowl in the air.

"Too late. Excuse me," said the second Chuunin before heading to the bathroom while his partner in this gagged.

(Room# 302)

"Ready?" said Naruto looking at Sasuke and Sakura with both nodding to him before he kicked down the doors to reveal his team while everyone else sent killer intent his way.

Naruto saw their killer intent and raised them with his spiritual pressure with a grin on his face just like his old man would in the same situation.

"Damn Naruto. Can you lay off this feeling your giving everyone. It's too troublesome," said Shikamaru, as he had nearly collapsed to his knees, which were bucking, and mere seconds from giving way to the ground.

The others were doing the same.

"Sorry, but I don't like it when people throw killer intent at me, and I tend to get..._upset_ with them," said Naruto, as he released the spiritual pressure, and everyone was gasping for breath.

'He did that without so much as moving an inch of his body,' thought everyone in shock at the sight of this blonde haired grinning Genin looking ready for a fight.

"Listen up you bastards! I want you all to remember my name right here. Right now! My name is Namikaze Naruto! I'm the only one here you have to worry about during this exam because if this where we have to fight, then your asses are as good as mine, and my foot print is going to mark it for your Kage to see," said Naruto, as he stomped his foot into the ground, and made the whole room shake with a massive crater on the floor.

And it scared the crap out of everyone afraid of facing him.

"That was highly intimidating. Naruto-san takes after his Father well," said Shino, as he saw Akamaru was scared, and Kiba was too though the Inuzuka tried to hide with false courage with a side of arrogance.

"Hello Naruto-kun. How have you been?" said Hinata, as she had been busy like Naruto the past week, and been unable to be around/stalking him.

"Good. How about you Hinata-chan? Kiba giving you problems? I could neuter him for you?" said Naruto, as he heard Hinata giggle, and loved the sound of it.

"No thank you Naruto-kun, but it was a sweet gesture, and it is the thought that counts," said Hinata, as she knew Naruto was _semi_-joking about neutering Kiba, and would have to hold off that option until a more suitable time was made.

'Bitch!' thought Kiba, as he was going to teach the girl a lesson later, and make her see he was the alpha of this group.

"Would you keep it down! You've already got everyone's attention so knock it off," said a Leaf Shinobi in the corner wearing purple and had glasses on his face.

"And you would be?" said Naruto, as he along with the rest of the Rookies walked over to the man, and instantly the smell of snakes hit the Namikaze's nose.

"Names Kabuto. I'm a Genin like you guys," said Kabuto before pushing up his glasses though he gave Naruto a cautious look.

"Really? Never seen you at the Academy before so your Genin team must have gotten around to make it here. What this your second or third try at the exams?" said Naruto, as he saw Kabuto look sheepish, and embarrassed.

"My seventh actually," said Kabuto with Kiba and Sasuke either smirking or laughing at his expense.

Naruto however, thought it was odd, and several of the other Rookies thought so too.

Who does this seven times and _NOT_ become Chuunin?

"Seventh? Damn man you must suck!" said Kiba thinking this guy was weak.

"Well, for every defeat I've suffered in the exams, I've gained quite a bit of knowledge, and I'm willing to share it if your interested?" said Kabuto, as he pulled out some cards, and smiled at the sight of several Genin looking at him like they were.

"What do you have on Namikaze Naruto?" said Sasuke, which got him a punch to the face again, and another black eye on his other optical organ.

"You should never ask such things Uchiha. It spoils the surprise that comes with every fight," said Naruto, as he looked at Sakura, and the girl seemed to become stiff like a tree while keeping her mouth shut.

"What's up with Sakura? Normally she's jumping at the chance to defend her precious 'Sasuke-kun!'" said Shikamaru, as she looked from Sakura to Naruto, and then back at Sakura again.

"She and her family violated several Konoha laws so they were all sent to the T&I Dept. until Sakura was let back onto the team so ours could compete here," said Naruto with most of the Rookies looking shocked at this and saw Sakura nod slightly.

"Personally, I would have sent her to the _T&A_ Dept. to give her body a much needed upgrade," said Kiba in a whisper to Shino, but the Aburame was not listening, and felt killer intent aimed at him by Ino.

"Okay! You want to know about Namikaze Naruto. Let's see what we have her-HEY!" said Kabuto, as he brought the info to his card, but Naruto snatched it out of his hands, and began to read it before crushing the card in his hands.

"As I said, you should never ask, it spoils the surprise, and I don't like my surprises to be spoiled! Don't do that again. It will take the thrill away," said Naruto, as he saw Kabuto nod hesitantly, and ignored the glare from Sasuke at missing out on some possible key info about him.

'Damn it! I wanted that info for later on to use against him,' thought Sasuke, as he would just have to ask Kabuto for it later, and see what kind of info he had on Naruto.

"So the blonde wants a surprise huh? Well I say let's give him one," said Dosu from the recently made Sound village, as his partners Zaku, and Kin both nodded before charging towards the Namikaze to teach him a lesson.

When they got within striking distance however, Naruto had already drawn his sword, and sliced vertically upward to kick up chunks of floor towards them that sent the three Genin scattering. When that happened, several of the other Rookies jumped in, and quickly restrained the Sound team with ease.

"You really didn't think I was going to have all the fun, did you?" said Naruto to Dosu, who was currently trapped by Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Jutsu with Choji ready to pound him with his fists, and Zaku was in-between two members of Team 8 while Kin was backed up to the wall while one Hyuuga Hinata was in Gentle Fist stance ready to deliver her own definition to the word known as pain.

"ENOUGH! All of you stop fighting right now! This is not the time or place for you to spill blood. That's reserved for later!" said Morino Ibiki, as he along with the Proctors came in, and saw Naruto smirking at him.

"As long as its happening later on, I think we can wait, and hold out a little longer," said Naruto before letting out a small chuckle that smoke of suffering to all those that crossed him.

"Keep it up and I'll disqualify your team right now for starting all of this," said Ibiki, as he hoped it would keep Naruto from doing anything else, but it made the boy grin more, and hated how this kid was more terrifying right now then himself.

"Sorry. I was provoked by the mass amount of killer intent by the people in the room and I felt the immense desire to set the record straight. Wouldn't want the people here to think Leaf Shinobi much less the Genin teams that participate in this exam are pushovers," said Naruto, as he put away Zangetsu, and ignored the high pitched chuckle from his Hollow side trying to get more notice from him.

"Fair enough. Now get to your seats, sit down, and shut up while I explain the rules of this portion of the exams," said Ibiki, as he had the Proctors pass out the written tests while explaining the rules to everyone.

Naruto hated written tests, but what he hated was soon ignored by the fact he was sitting next to Hinata, and the girl was currently blushing at being so close to him.

_**"I wouldn't mind studying her,"**_ said Naruto's Hollow side, as he saw what Naruto saw, and the Namikaze silently agreed.

'That can wait until later. Don't make me lock you away. I can do it too!' thought Naruto, as he had used his time within his mind the past week keeping his Hollow side under control, and the two worked out a small..._deal_!

The Hollow side would come out _only_ when needed, gives back control when the danger ends, and in return...the unnamed clearly _perverted_ Hollow could secretly look at the girls they liked _provided_ no perverted act was committed by a quick possession. Violation of the rules would be grounds for throwing the Hollow into a dark place in his mind until the darker half of him learned his lesson and didn't do something stupid.

As for the written test itself, the Namikaze answered them easily due to his training hard for the past four years almost nonstop, and hitting the books at the Namikaze Estates on all things Shinobi with the help of Shadow Clones. When the time was up though, Naruto saw Ibiki was looking at the kids before him with a sadistic smile, and was waiting to deliver the killing blow of this thing upon their unsuspecting heads.

"Now its time for the tenth and final question. However, there are rules to this one too, and cannot be ignored," said Ibiki, as he told them specifics of the rules, and stipulations to the tenth question causing the Genin in front of him to go into an uproar.

"You can't do that!" said Kiba, as his dog barked in agreement, and Ibiki's smile just expanded more.

"Oh really? And what would a simple _Genin_ know about what I _can_ and _cannot_ do? _Nothing_! That' what you know about this part of the exam. You've never taken this exam before and even if you did, then you would know that _I_ make the rules with the backing of the Hokage to enforce them in whatever way I see fit. Are you going to tell me that the Hokage herself has made a _mistake_ in letting me run things?" said Ibiki, as he knew such an outspoken act would be considered treason, and get the kid executed faster then Anko could devour a week's worth of dango.

"No matter what Hinata-chan, take the test, and don't be afraid," said Naruto whispered to Hinata and saw the girl nod slightly.

"I thought so. Those that want to quit now can get out of here and take the test next time we do this," said Ibiki, as he saw several teams quit, and leave while several looked like they wanted to break, and others doing better then all of them.

The last group had Namikaze Naruto in it.

"So what's the tenth question. Give it to us already!" said Naruto with his feet now on the desk.

"Are you sure you want to take it? Knowing that if you get it wrong that you'll _never_ be anything except a low ranked Shinobi of the Leaf?" said Ibiki, as he saw Naruto shrug like he didn't give a crap about such things, and just smirked.

"I'm use to high risk situations since I was a little kid living off the streets eating scrapes of food that people threw out just so I could survive Ibiki-san. This little written test of yours throwing us is _weak_ when compared to the shit I've been through. Besides, one's own rank is just an outward appearance, and has _nothing _to do with fighting an enemy unless its true. As for myself, I could be Hokage level, yet stuck in Genin rank forever, and people would easily underestimate me when in combat. How much of an advantage is that when fighting your enemy who thinks your weak? Respectfully, the Demon of the Mist has already made that one mistake when fighting me back in Wave Country. I would have thought someone so high up in the inner workings of the Leaf would have read that report and known that this so called 'Tenth Question' doesn't intimidate me at all in the _slightest_!" said Naruto, as he saw Ibiki smirk while the Genin around him were surprised that the Namikaze knew this man.

Sakura had been acting even twitchier when Ibiki had first come in to start the test, but had kept it under control for now, and was back to the occasional twitch every so often instead of every few seconds.

"You're right. I did read the report and I know all about your pain kid. This test is indeed weak for someone like you. What about everyone else here? Are you going to flee like the others or are you staying?" said Ibiki seeing the others staying and was impressed this kid could inspire so many.

"I think we're staying," said Naruto, as he grinning at Ibiki, and the man grinned back.

"Is that true? You're all staying? Well if it is, then I just have one thing to say right now. Congratulations! You've passed!" said Ibiki seeing the shocks of everyone in the room that they passed just like that with no tenth question.

"What? So the whole thing was a lie?" said Temari, as she was shocked like most of them, and heard Ibiki chuckling at her reaction.

"No. It wasn't a lie. It was a test plain and simple. It was to see which Genin teams had the courage to move forward when facing near impossible odds knowing what would happen upon failing. When you're a Chuunin, you are a squad commander, and have to make decisions that will effect those around you. If you are caught by the enemy, then the chances are they will torture you for information about your mission, and then decide what happens afterwards when they get what they want," said Ibiki before taking off his bandana and showing his horribly scarred head.

'My face would have looked like that if not worse without Zangetsu healing me when I was a kid,' thought Naruto, as he gave the man credit for enduring so much during his time in being a Shinobi, and was a credit to the T&I Dept.

"Taking risks when it comes to missions is what all Chuunin, Jounin, and ANBU do. If you can't lead a mission regardless of the risks, then you can't be a Chuunin, and should just stay a Genin or just plain _quit_!" said Ibiki, as he saw the Genin around him take this seriously, and knew they were ready for the next part of the Chuunin Exams.

And that was when the windows of the classroom were destroyed, as something, or rather _someone_ had come through there to reveal _herself_ as the next Head Proctor for the second part of the Chuunin Exams.

"All right maggots listen up! The super sexy Mitarashi Anko is your new Proctor for the Chuunin Exams!" said Anko in her own way that made the guys get nosebleeds and the girls looked at her with jealousy mixed with disgust at how she dressed.

_**'Helloooo nurse!'**_ thought Naruto's Hollow side chuckling at the sight of the woman wearing such revealing clothing of a fishnet shirt, short skirt, and trench coat that _barely_ covered Anko's breasts where the fishnet would have revealed them.

"What? There's 22 teams here? Ibiki, don't tell me you're getting slow, and this is a sign to retire," said Anko surprised at the sight of so many here when normally Ibiki would have less then _10_ teams.

"We have an interesting bunch this year. Guess who is one of them," said Ibiki, as he pointed at Naruto, and the blonde gave a mock salute with a grin on his face that would have made Grimmjow proud.

"I see. _Their _kid is here. Well that explains it. The practically raided the brass ball factory and gave the kid so many that cutting off a pair wouldn't hurt him," said Anko grinning at Naruto and the blonde gave her a wink much to the woman's surprise.

Normally those of the male gender were afraid or aroused by now.

"Yeah. He's the one. Go send them to the next part Anko. You can weed them out there," said Ibiki, as he saw Anko grin, and made most of the Genin in the room nervous.

"Weed them out? Ha! I'm going to cut the teams here down by half if not more," said Anko in her usual boastful tone and grinned at the sight of Sakura in the room.

Oh yeah. This was going to be so much fun.

(A/N: YAY! I updated! Again for the record, Namikaze09 deserves credit for helping me with this so send him some compliments after your done reviewing, and let him get some praises. Until next time...PEACE!)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7-Hollow Exams

(A/N: Sorry this took so long. My mind has traveled elsewhere. ENJOY!)

Naruto leaped with his so called team through the Forest of Death, trying to get through this test, and trying to _not kill_ his dumbass teammates. His teammates had the stupidity to be arrogant, thinking they had the skills to backup everything they said, now Naruto had to deal with every single moron that came at them. Iwa (mostly Iwa), Kumo, Mist, and those from Rain thinking they could take down the "Elite team of the Leaf" in order to make names for themselves.

But what pissed off Naruto the most, was that all the other Genin teams that came after them had targeted only himself simply because of his last name, and wanted to bring his head back to their villages in order to be praised as so called heroes. Something Naruto had no intention of letting them do, as he had taken on all comers, and was starting to get tired of this invisible gauntlet he was now running while his teammates did absolutely _nothing _to help! Seriously! Sakura was too damn weak and terrified while Sasuke just smirked like he was the best of them all with the only way for the enemy to get to him was through his teammate.

Naruto wished he had Haku at the very least for a teammate right now. Then this would be tolerable.

'The only good thing about this damn situation is the bounty of scrolls I got from all the different teams and we don't have to worry about the lack of scrolls,' thought Naruto, as his team now officially had more then enough from what the rules about this place stated was required to have, and had to a lesser extent kill a few of those Genin.

_**"Shame that sexy Special Jounin with the short skirt isn't here. With her apparent love for blood, she'd jump on us, and show her appreciation for making this place live up to its name,"**_ said the Inner Hollow of Naruto giggling evilly and perversely.

'Down boy. You only get to look. Not touch,' thought Naruto while his Inner Hollow just grumbled about not getting to "touch the sweet merchandise".

A sudden intense blast of wind, most likely caused by a Wind Jutsu sent Naruto, and the other two flying. Naruto himself crashed through several trees before getting up, cracking his back, and looked around to find his sword a few feet away while his pockets holding the different scrolls needed to advance was still attached. This meant one of two things for Naruto. One, he wasn't the intended target after the attack (for once), otherwise the attacker would have struck already, and Naruto would have been too pissed off to show restraint. Second, the attacker wasn't after the scrolls to advance since the other Genin teams saw him pocket their first scroll before the gates opened to this place.

_**"Something tells me the Uchiha finally has to take one for the team. I say we just ditch both assholes and make up a story that allows us to advance while leaving them here to die!"**_ said the Inner Hollow of Naruto grinning wolfishly at the idea and letting out an even crueler laugh.

'Tempting, but no. Sad as it is, I _need them_ for the moment, and therefore I must go..._help them_,' thought Naruto while hating the idea of helping those two morons.

The Namikaze helping the Uchiha and his puppy dog fan girl. Sounded like a fairy tale story from Hell!

Grabbing his trusty zanpakuto, Naruto sensed the large creature behind him, and with a quick turn while slicing horizontally the now revealed giant snake was slain. However, Naruto knew well enough that such a creature was _not _native to the Leaf, much less the Forest of Death, and the Namikaze had a feeling that this threat to the Uchiha might be greater then he originally thought.

Quickly using the greatness that was Flash Step, Naruto soon found the dumb Uchiha he had for a teammate trying to fight off some crazy Kusa Nin that the Namikaze could tell was not normal, and could sense this person was masking their power. Deciding to watch rather then intervene, Naruto saw the Uchiha fight the clearly stronger opponent, and saw the enemy was bating Sasuke in order to test him. Why? Naruto did not know, but it was clearly something with ill intentions, and needed to be stopped before things got out of hand.

Which meant that Naruto, _sadly_ had to interfere before the Uchiha hurt himself, and that meant the enemy would have to look at him.

_**"This sucks. I still say we let the whiny Uchiha bitch get his ass kicked,"**_ said Naruto's Inner Hollow seeing Sasuke getting knocked back by the Kusa Shinobi.

'If we do that, then we'd be even worse then the Uchiha, and I know you don't want to be lower then him. Even _you_ have standards,' thought Naruto seeing his Inner Hollow once again grumble about him being right.

And hating that simple fact.

_**"Just save the Uchiha's already! I want to get back to looking at the hot babes you're surrounded with,"**_ said Naruto's Inner Hollow, who was restless, and wanted to look at the lovely ladies with Naruto's eyes.

'Pervert,' thought Naruto though in secret he too wish to look at the lovely ladies of the Leaf.

Some more then others.

Naruto had just finished his thoughtful discussion with his other half when the Kusa Nin did the most damndest thing by stretching his or her neck when the Namikaze decided to interfere with a spin kick that sent the head flying back with the neck to see it hit the tree behind the body. The neck instantly retracted back to normalcy while the face of the Kusa Shinobi had a less then pleased look on his or her face at seeing someone interfere.

"You have a lot of nerve interfering boy?" said the Kusa Shinobi with the voice being a mix of male and female vocal tones.

"I know I do. Blame Sasuke for being my teammate. I hate him because he's a complete arrogant asshole, but all the same the Uchiha's my teammate, and its some code of the Leaf to always save your teammate's butt even when he acts like one all the time. Sue me," said Naruto seeing the transgender Kusa Shinobi growl at him before smirking and _rip off_ his/her face to reveal it was a _he_ and that he had a pale face with yellow slit eyes.

"I know it is. I was born and raised to be a Leaf Shinobi too at one point," said the man grinning evilly at Naruto.

"Orochimaru of the Sannin. Funny. Given your natural age, I was kind of expecting you to have gray hair, and a few wrinkles," said Naruto seeing Orochimaru grin further.

"I've been busy extending my life and age beyond Kami's limitations," said Orochimaru with a sense of pride at his accomplishment.

"So you're afraid of death. That's just sad," said Naruto grinning at Orochimaru, who now scowled at him, and drew Kusanagi from his mouth.

_**"Okay. Seriously? That's so **__**wrong**__** on so **__**many**__** levels! Especially when it's a guy,"**_ said Naruto's Inner Hollow with Naruto himself agreeing.

"Loser! What the Hell do you think you're doing? This is my fight! Don't interfere," said Sasuke at last with Naruto looking back slightly before returning his eyes to Orochimaru.

"Hold that thought of fighting me for just one second," said Naruto to Orochimaru before leaping back and elbowing Sasuke in the face into Sakura with enough force to knock the boy out.

"Naruto?" said Sakura, as she had been so terrified of Orochimaru when he arrived, and realized just how outclassed she was when facing him.

"Listen Pinky! Get that asshole out of here. Someplace _safe_! Secluded even. I don't care. Hell, you can rape him in his unconscious state for all I care while you're alone, just get far away from here, and wait for my return to the group," said Naruto while keeping his eyes entirely on Orochimaru and saw the man narrow his eyes back.

"You will not deprive me of having the Uchiha as my future vessel!" said Orochimaru, as he charged at Naruto, and the boy charged back with the Sannin surprised his sword did cut through the boy's zanpakuto.

"Not only will I deprive you of your sick desires for the Uchiha, but I'm also going to deny you the right to live past today, and take your head to the Hokage!" said Naruto, as he pushed Orochimaru back, which surprised the Sannin, and gave the Namikaze the edge needed to push forward.

The two clashed viciously with their blades, as Orochimaru's weakness aside from seals was Kenjutsu, and it showed when Naruto was able to knock him back against a tree. The Sannin snarled angrily at the Namikaze, as he once again tried to slice the boy's head off, and received a stab to his gut after his third miss with the Kusanagi sword instead.

And turned into an Mud Clone.

"I know what you are boy. I know what you hold. My spies have been very thorough in their work. Let's see what happens when I _block _that power with a seal designed for just this sort of emergency. Something Sarutobi-sensei asked me to do shortly before I left the Leaf if you must know. He felt a specific seal capable of cutting off your connection to the Kyuubi was prudent planning should you decide to draw upon its power. Considering all I've heard and seen you do...I'm glad he did," said Orochimaru, as he quickly appeared from behind Naruto, and stabbed the boy in the back along his side before moving around to face the blonde.

'He doesn't know about Kyuubi being turned into Zangetsu,' thought Naruto ignoring the pain of the sword still in his body while Orochimaru lift the boy's shirt to see the faint remnants of the Shinigami's seal.

"I expect the design to be thicker. No matter. 'Five Elemental Seal!'" said Orochimaru hitting the Shinigami Seal with his hands and frowned when all he got was a grunt of pain from the boy.

He was expecting a cry of agony for his troubles. No matter.

"You really shouldn't have done that Hebi-teme," said Naruto now grinning slightly while Orochimaru walked behind him and harshly pulled upward when taking out his Kusanagi sword while getting another grunt of the pain from the boy due to his flesh being torn up near his shoulder.

"And I suppose you're going to tell me _why_ I shouldn't have before I take your head," said Orochimaru before he frowned at hearing the boy laughing and then became a bit more concerned at hearing it change to something..._unnatural_.

_**"Because what you did was let **__**me**__** out and just so you know...I'm **__**not**__** the Kyuubi. I'm something much **__**worse**__**!"**_ said Naruto, as he turned to face Orochimaru to show the Sannin a quarter of a Hollow Mask had formed, and was slowly expanding to cover half of the blonde's face.

'What? What is he? Such malice in him far exceeds my own!' thought Orochimaru, as he quickly lashed out at Naruto, but found his blade was stopped by the blonde's zanpakuto currently in the boy's left hand, and the grin on the young Genin's face only grew when the wounds were suddenly covered in white flesh that spread quickly over the arm.

_**"I must thank you for letting me out. Normally, I would have to go through a stupid **__**deal**__** in order to be in control, but your little seal placed on the body has allowed it to be temporarily become void, and now **__**I**__** am the King of this body,"**_ said Hollow Naruto, as he struck quickly with Zangetsu, and injured sliced through a chuck of Orochimaru's side.

'AH! Damn this boy. He's something I've never encountered before. I must prepare for it and find out what his power is in order to counter it,' thought Orochimaru, as he dodged a sword strike, followed by the blocking another, and then another block with the Kusanagi before Naruto kicked him hard in the rib into a tree.

_**"Time to die!"**_ said Hollow Naruto laughing, as he raised his Hollow changed right hand, pointed at Orochimaru with his clawed index, and middle finger tip before a red orb of energy formed at their tips.

'What is that?' thought Orochimaru, as his instincts from decades of Shinobi training told him to run, and they never steered him wrong.

_**"Cero!"**_ said Hollow Naruto before firing the blast and the Sannin quickly sank into the ground with the attack _barely_ missing him.

"Die!" said Orochimaru springing from the ground to try the same trick as before.

_SLASH!_

Only to lose his left arm in the process.

_**"Tsk tsk tsk. Shame on you teme. Trying the same move twice on me. I'm insulted! Do you know what I do to people who insult me? I kill them!"**_ said Hollow Naruto, as he aimed another Cero at Orochimaru, but even before firing it, the Sannin had fled, and this time he wasn't going to stick around.

Snarling at missing his chance, Hollow Naruto expanded his senses to look for his other half's teammates, and found them pinned down by the Sound team seen earlier in the first stage of the Chuunin Exam. Normally, the instinct of the Inner Hollow of Naruto would have just let them die alone for all the pain they put Naruto through, but a problem arose in the form of two other Genin teams from the Leaf showing up, and they were with those the King cared about. Plus this seal that Orochimaru wouldn't last too long, as the Hollow energy would eventually overpower the original seal, and restore things back to the way they were with Naruto being back in control.

With a quick Flash Step, the Namikaze followed the energy signatures of his teammates, and those of the other Genin teams around them.

(With the Genin Teams)

"Damn Leaf Shinobi. You take down one and several more pop up to take their place. They're like cockroaches!" said Zaku, as he saw Neji, and Tenten up in the tree above while their teammate was below protecting Sakura.

Also on the ground was Leaf Genin team 10, which consisted of the new Ino-Shika-Cho, and with Ino currently possessing the female Sound Nin by the name of Tsuchi Kin while Shikamaru made sure nothing bad happened to her body. As for Chouji, he was ready to use his Body Expanding Jutsus his clan was known for, and crush the other two Sound Nin should they try anything.

"Surrender. You're surrounded and have no place to go," said Shikamaru knowing he had to time his Shadow Possession Jutsu just right on them should they decide to refuse and do something drastic to escape.

"I think not," said Dosu with his metal bracers at the ready and was about to charge when a cruel laughter echoed throughout the area.

_**"Look at this. These pitiful Sound Nin think they can take on the world with what they have. Did Orochimaru send you after the Uchiha?"**_ said Hollow Naruto, as he appeared in a tree across from Neji, and Tenten with Zangetsu having an unnatural fire to it like it did back in Wave Country.

"Who the Hell are you?" said Dosu though if he was honest with himself, he would have said "_What_ the Hell are you?", and wonder just how the strange boy knew about their own connection to Orochimaru.

'Oh no! Not him. Anyone, but him!' thought Sakura, as she saw the same Hollow Mask, and the personality that went with it back in Wave.

_**"Me? If you must know. I'm your death!"**_ said Hollow Naruto, as he was in front of Dosu in a second, and stabbed the surprised boy in the gut before the Sound Nin could react.

"Dosu! I'll get you for that you bastard," said Zaku, as he turned to face Naruto, and fired his air wave attack at the Namikaze.

"Naruto!" said Tenten in shock at seeing her friend from the Academy just take the attack like it was nothing.

'Is he insane!' thought Shikamaru seeing the same thing Tenten did and everyone else.

"HA! I took down the Last Namikaze of the Leaf. Orochimaru will reward me greatly for this," said Zaku seeing only the thick cloud of dirt before the sound of laughter was heard and the shadowy form of Naruto's body revealed itself.

_**"That's it? That's all you got?" **_said Hollow Naruto, as the dust cloud cleared to reveal Naruto's upper clothing was torn diagonally, and had more white colored skin covering more of the injuries he normally would have had without the Hollow regeneration power at his disposal.

"That's not possible. You're a monster!" said Zaku with Hollow Naruto just laughing at him.

_**"Me? Yes. In a way I am a monster. I was locked away, but your stupid Master of a Sannin let me out while trying to keep something else locked away that was already free, and lost his arm because of it. **__**You**__** on the other hand will not be getting away so easily," **_said Hollow Naruto, as he moved quickly, and cut through Zaku's legs above the knees with the Sound Nin now screaming out in pain.

"You fucking bastard! I'll kill you for this!" said Zaku raising his hands at Naruto to shoot his Decapitating Air Wave attack at the boy, but his hands was soon lost to him too due to Hollow Naruto cutting them off, and then piercing the Sound Nin's head with Zangetsu with enough force to shatter the ground underneath the now dead Shinobi's skull.

_**"And then there was one,"**_ said Hollow Naruto turning to the terrified girl backing up against the nearby tree while he walked towards her.

"Ino! End the Jutsu now!" said Shikamaru knowing any injury Kin took would go right back to Ino's body.

To his credit, Hollow Naruto had waited until Ino did what Shikamaru commanded, and saw the real Tsuchi Kin was back in control of her body. Only for Kin to wish she was not upon seeing Hollow Naruto staring down at the girl after falling back on her rear end and fear at being struck down by the massive zanpakuto.

"P-Please don't kill me," said Kin, as she saw the vicious grin on Naruto's natural looking face, and somehow the white mask that covered the other half seemed to do the same.

_**"Why should I? What do you have to offer that's worth the value of me not splitting you in half right down the middle? Nothing! You have **__**nothing**__** of value to give me and therefore you will get **__**nothing**__** in return in the form of mercy,"**_ said Hollow Naruto, as he was about to strike down Kin, but stopped when hit by a sharp pain with his left hand now grabbing his stomach, and dropping the weapon in the right before that very hand grabbed at the Hollow Mask.

"What do you think you're doing? Attacking her like that! I won't allow you to smear my honor!" said Naruto in a normal voice while his Hollow side screamed out in defiance.

_**"Oh like she'd be so merciful to you if roles were reversed. You know she wouldn't so why bother showing any mercy to this bitch at all?"**_ said the Hollow Naruto trying to resist, but soon found Naruto's power was still too powerful to fight back against.

"Because its something _I _believe in. Now give me back my body!" said Naruto prying the Hollow Mask of his face and felt the Five Elemental Seal break after the clashing of the two energies.

"Naruto?" said Tenten seeing him kneeling now and breathing heavily.

"Yeah. I'm back. Its me. What'd I miss?" said Naruto rubbing his eyes and trying to focus his eye sight on everyone around him before looking at Kin still scared out of her mind.

"What was that? What was that evil we saw?" said Ino seeing Naruto flinch and let out a sigh before picking up Zangetsu.

"I'll explain when we get to the tower. But first...!" said Naruto, as he knocked Kin out, and picked her up.

"You don't want the girl to know," said Shikamaru seeing Naruto smirk.

"Got it in one. Come on. I have more then enough extra scrolls for all of you so we can all head to the tower together," said Naruto motioning his team and the others.

"What about team 8?" said Choji knowing their team could still be out here.

Naruto paused for a second before continuing forward.

"They've got their scrolls and are already at the tower," said Naruto having sensed Hinata at the tower with Kiba and Shino.

"How did you get so many scrolls Naruto?" said Shikamaru, as Naruto casually through each team a scroll with several more to spare.

"A lot of people hate the Namikaze Clan and even more just want my head in order to make a name for themselves. A lot of Genin teams from different villages came at me with that desire. Nuff said," said Naruto, but didn't say anymore on the subject, and deep down the others behind him knew what he had done.

He had killed a sizable amount if not all of them.

"So what happened that caused your uh...transformation?" said Tenten seeing Naruto tense a bit while walking.

"Orochimaru," said Naruto while wondering how he was going to break it to them that what they saw was the negative aspect of himself.

"He's one of the legendary three Sannin! Tsunade-sama's own teammate!" said Tenten, as she knew her idols history surrounded Orochimaru, and Jiraiya when they were together.

"Yeah. And he's a traitor to the Leaf. Did some experimenting that he shouldn't have and had to flee before anything could be done. He and I had ourselves a little sword duel. He got me pretty good, but I got him back, and took off his arm. Well...my _Hollow side_ got his arm, and would have gotten more if the bastard hadn't fled," said Naruto sensing their shock.

"Your Hollow side?" said Neji with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. Again, it will all be explained when were in the tower, and away from unwanted ears hearing this," said Naruto knowing the sooner they got to the tower the better.

"Do your teammates know?" said Neji seeing Sakura was slightly afraid and Sasuke had no clue what was going on except that they were finally heading to the tower.

"Yeah. They know. They've known since Wave," said Naruto knowing Neji was fishing for info he could use on him later, but the Namikaze wasn't giving him anything special, and just gave the Hyuuga simple things.

When the group got to the tower at the center of the Forest of Death, Naruto quickly went to see the Hokage waiting for the teams to arrive, and dumped Kin off into Anko's lap to handle to Ibiki for questioning while keeping the girl's presence in the I&T Dept. under a strict "need to know" basis. The Hokage herself was livid after being told Orochimaru was in fact _in _the Leaf and had entered the exams to _bite_ Sasuke though for what reason Naruto didn't know. Whatever the reason, it was clear that the Sannin wanted the Uchiha for something horrible, and pertained to having a "new vessel" though the only one even capable of understanding that was the retired Sandaime.

And the retired Hokage had long since shut himself off from the Leaf since Tsunade took office.

Another thing that had to be addressed in front of the Hokage and the other Rookies was Naruto's Inner Hollow coming out to play during his sword fight with Orochimaru. How Naruto's Hollow side was let out after Orochimaru tried to seal away Kyuubi's power while still thinking it was sealed within Naruto and using a sealing method the retired Hokage had commissioned the Sannin to make prior to his betrayal. Something to help ensure that the Shinigami Seal on Naruto would prevent the boy from using the fox's power should it be used against the Leaf. Since the fox became his zanpakuto, which Naruto revealed to the Rookies, the Five Elemental Seal allowed his Hollow side to take temporarily control, and bring about the much darker side of the Namikaze forged from the years living alone while he suffered from the village's abuse.

"I still don't understand why Orochimaru would want Sasuke. There are plenty of other Uchiha around to take besides him," said Tsunade, as it was just her, Shizune, Jiraiya, and Naruto in the room now with the other Rookies currently being elsewhere.

"Yeah, but he's young. His Sharingan is active. He can't get Itachi because Itachi is most likely too strong. From the way he described Sasuke, it was like he was swapping out his current body for a new one, and what I also find odd is his face when I fought him didn't show signs of aging," said Naruto seeing Tsunade's eyebrow twitch while Jiraiya just had to hide the smirk that wanted to appear on his face.

"What do you mean? Was he hiding it like Tsunade does?" said Jiraiya getting a glare from the woman and he laughed nervously.

"No. It wasn't like that at all. I think...I think Orochimaru swaps bodies and takes them over to stay young," said Naruto seeing Tsunade and Jiraiya eye each other for a moment since this was big news.

"The only one capable of knowing what Orochimaru was doing with his experiments is Sarutobi-sensei, but he's shut himself off from everyone, and doesn't want to speak to either of us," said Jiraiya knowing the stubborn old man had become a bit bitter since the passing of his title to Tsunade.

Even now, Jiraiya couldn't believe he had followed the Sandaime so blindly regarding the way Naruto's early development was decided, and putting seals on the boy. He must have been out of his mind!

"He'll talk to me," said Naruto calmly seeing Tsunade look at him with surprise.

"Naruto?" said Tsunade seeing the serious look on the boy's face.

"He owes me that much. _After_ the Preliminaries of course," said Naruto since there were still too many for the Finals to take place and thus Preliminaries that would lead to the Finals was required.

"I can arrange it. He may live at the Sarutobi Clan home, but my old sensei isn't Clan Head because of his age, and Asuma can let you into his home to see him," said Tsunade knowing the Sandaime couldn't hide from Naruto and the old man had a lot to answer for his own part in Orochimaru escaping when they confronted each other before the Sannin got away due to the Sandaime's lack of a spine to do what needed to be done.

"So aside from the Rookies, plus Gai's own Genin team, how many other teams made it through the Forest of Death?" said Naruto curiously.

"Two other teams made. Suna's own team and one other from the Leaf," said Tsunade knowing what he was thinking since only a few of them had to participate in the Prelims. before the others could advance.

"And the girl from the Sound?" said Naruto seeing Tsunade smirk a bit.

"Tsuchi Kin? The poor girl spilled her guts to Ibiki before the door fully shut in the room she was staying in. Your Hollow side made quite the impression on her," said Tsunade, but her smirk left when she saw Naruto flinch, and knew it wasn't his intention to freak out the poor girl.

"I'm going to have to get him under control soon. I don't like the idea of my other half being off his leash for too long should there be a situation that requires him to be out at all," said Naruto knowing he was going to have to work even harder now not to just learn Bankai, but also becoming a full blown Vizard, and not letting his Hollow side break free.

"After the Preliminaries are over, there is a one Month training period for all the Genin in the Exam Finals, and should give you the time needed to train," said Tsunade seeing the boy nod in agreement.

"I just hope its enough," said Naruto before bowing slightly and leaving the room.

"So Orochimaru's here. Or at least _was _here in the Leaf," said Jiraiya knowing the Sannin wouldn't _dare _stay in Konoha with just one arm.

"Yes. He probably went to switch bodies to make up for the loss of his one arm. Though how he can even do that is something I have yet to understand. I feel like we're missing a key piece of information," said Tsunade seeing Jiraiya nod and rub his index finger under his chin in thought.

"Maybe it has something to do with the biting of his chosen vessels. In Ibiki's report, Kin spoke of the Sound Four being Orochimaru's bodyguards, as each one is rumored to be in possession of some kind of seal on their necks, and it granted them great power. What if this seal also allowed the man a means to enter a body and possess it? Like some kind of doorway into one's body!" said Jiraiya seeing Tsunade nod in agreement.

"That is possible. Though for your theory to be confirmed, we'll need one of those Sound Four bodyguards alive to study the seal, and a way to counter it should any of our Shinobi be marked like he tried to do with Sasuke," said Tsunade knowing that Jiraiya could find a way to counter Orochimaru's seal since both were opposites when it came to the art.

"That I can work on. Also, there is more to the story of the Five Elemental Seal's creation to combat Naruto then you know, and that...I know how to use it too," said Jiraiya seeing Tsunade's eyes widen in shock.

"You _knew _about it? How to use it? How?" said Tsunade while narrowing her eyes dangerously at him.

"After Orochimaru figured out a way to counter the Shinigami Seal on Naruto per the Sandaime's orders, he taught it the Sandaime, who then in turn had me learn it, and the intended purpose behind the use of the seal. I told him that such a use would hurt the boy if left on him for too long, as it would back up a lot of the fox's power, and possibly cause the boy to explode with the Kyuubi's chakra damaging everything in a massive area. Like a bomb. The Sandaime told me it was a last resort sealing method, but by that point I felt Naruto needed to have some kind of release made, and created a release form to remove the Five Elemental Seal so the proper flow of chakra could be restored. I may have put those seals on him in the past Tsunade-hime, but I never did it to intentionally hurt the boy, and I certainly didn't want him to _explode_!" said Jiraiya seeing the woman shaking with anger and saw Shizune narrow her eyes at him.

"Just when I thought the old bastard had done just about every dumbass thing in the book, you lay this on me, and find out my Godson's last purpose in life could have been a living _bomb_!" said Tsunade seeing Jiraiya flinch and look away from her.

"Look, you can bust his, and my balls again at a later time for being stupid. Right now we need to focus on the Preliminaries," said Jiraiya seeing Tsunade nod knowing this part of the Chuunin Exams would determine the final setup for the exams.

The next few days for the other teams came and went until the day where the Chuunin Exams Preliminaries had begun with each Genin standing in rows waiting for the Hokage to address them about the secret purpose behind the exams. It was to ensure wars with other countries are kept simple, controlled, and mostly out of the public eye to prevent outright panic from the world populous. Ibiki then asked if anyone wished to drop out if they felt this next part would be too much for them and to raise their hand if it was.

No one did.

Then the proctor Gekko Hayate appeared, looking sickly, ill, and every other medical terms used to describe someone under the weather to inform the Genin he would be the referee for the following Preliminary matches. That they were to obey his commands at all times and that to disregard them was grounds for disqualification from the Finals.

'So basically we're all soldiers in a war people will only hear whispers and rumors about. Joy!' thought Naruto while Anko ordered the big screen hidden behind the wall to appear so two random names would pop up to name who would go first in the Preliminaries.

_Sabaku no Kankuro VS Tsurugi Misumi_

"And so the fun begins," said Kankuro with a smirk.

"Just try not to make too much of a mess," said Temari while eyeing Naruto's nearly shirtless form and had to fight the blush on her face.

'I know. That's Gaara's job anyway,' thought Kankuro, as he faced his opponent, and just grinned at him.

"Ready? Fight!" said Hayate bringing his hand down so the two could start fighting.

The fight itself wasn't anything spectacular, as Misumi used his ability to bend his limbs beyond normal human capabilities, and wrapped himself around Kankuro. Only for the Suna Shinobi to shoot spikes out of various parts of his body and revealed himself to be a puppet looking like Kankuro while the real one was tucked away in the bundle everyone assumed was the puppet.

The victory went to Suna's future Puppet Master.

_Haruno Sakura VS Yamanaka Ino_

'Please let this be remotely good,' thought Naruto, as he saw Ino, and Sakura head down to the arena floor before their match started.

"Ready? Fight!" said Hayate seeing the girls charge each other and saw the two trying to beat the other to determine who was the better Shinobi between them.

The end result of the fight was a Double Knockout.

'Well...at least they didn't go into a tirade about Sasuke,' thought Naruto calmly knowing that such a tirade would have made him want to rip off his ears.

_Rock Lee VS Yakushi Kabuto_

"Proctor, I'd like to forfeit. I'm not feeling well and fighting him would only make my condition worse," said Kabuto grinning sheepishly while inwardly trying to shake off the stare from the Hokage herself.

"YOSH! Lee my Youthful student, you have advanced through your Springtime of Youth being so overpowering, and making your adversary bend to your greatness!" said Gai with Lee being fired up with what could only be described as joy and the two went into a hug that formed a Genjutsu with a beach appearing behind them.

"KNOCK THAT SHIT OFF!" yelled Naruto using the Evil Big Head Jutsu he had con-blackma-_convinced_ the Chuunin to teach him on the two spandex wearing idiots.

Instantly the Genjutsu broke and the two huddled in the corner in fear.

"Yes Naruto-sama," said the two fearfully while everyone from the Leaf just looked at him in shock.

"What? Did my head not return to normal size?" said Naruto feeling around his face.

"Y-You just dispelled their Genjutsu. _No one_ has ever done that. Not even Kurenai and she's a _Master_ of Genjutsu!" said Kakashi almost panicky at seeing it stopped.

"Oh. Do I get paid for that?" said Naruto making all the Leaf Shinobi face planet.

"Yeah. Actually there is S-ranked pay for doing such a thing. You'll get it later when this is over," said Tsunade seeing Naruto nod before looking at the screen to see who was next.

_Uchiha Sasuke VS Namikaze Naruto_

"Okay, who's been messing with the system back there?" said Naruto knowing the only way that his name and Sasuke would pop out would be if someone had a hand in it.

'That's what I'd like to know,' thought Tsunade, as she had suspected certain members within the Councils were involved, and they wanted to take down Naruto through Sasuke.

Or possibly Danzo seeing how developed Naruto's powers have become in such a short time.

"Does it matter loser? Now get down to the arena floor so I can prove my superiority," said Sasuke already down there waiting for Naruto.

'Then again...knocking Sasuke on his ass is something I do enjoy. A lot!' thought Naruto before he was several feet across from Sasuke.

"You won't win this time loser," said Sasuke with Naruto smirking at him.

"And you're saying this…because?" said Naruto awaiting an answer.

"Because an Uchiha Elite like myself can't lose to an insignificant loser like yourself. The Namikaze bloodline is nothing compared to an Uchiha," said Sasuke confidently.

"That's it? That's your reasoning? Proctor, please start this match so I can get this over with. I have places to go, people to see, and more important things to do then deal with the Uchiha's bullshit," said Naruto seeing Sasuke scowl at him.

"Ready? Fight!" said Hayate bringing his hand down and leaping away from them.

Sasuke instantly charged forward, wishing to draw first blood, and crush Naruto right away to further prove his clan was the best. Naruto however, had easily dodged the attack, then Sasuke's follow up kick, and leaped over the charging Uchiha. Again, the arrogant Uchiha kept trying to hit Naruto with his fist, or feet like he did when fighting Orochimaru. The Namikaze simply dodged each attack, bored out of his mind at seeing such slow movement, and wished he was fighting Lee right now.

At least Lee's speed required Naruto to focus more and actually use Flash Step at least _once_.

"Is this it? Is this all you have Sasuke? Why are you so weak? Itachi would have made me working up a sweat already" said Naruto seeing his opponent getting angrier by the second at his words and making even wilder swings at him.

"Shut up! I'm an Uchiha! An Elite! I'm not some freak of nature and demon monster all rolled into one," said Sasuke, as he punched at Naruto again, but his fist was caught by the Namikaze, and then elbow viciously in the ribs with several of them breaking loudly for everyone to hear.

"I'm a demon monster? Ha! You'd sell out your own Mother if it meant getting power. I may have something monstrous inside of me, but at least I don't let such a thing control my actions if I can help it, and stain my honor. You...you have _no honor_!" said Naruto dodging random and desperate attacks from Sasuke holding his side where the ribs were broken, and busted the Uchiha's right leg at the knee causing the boy to scream out in pain.

"I don't care about honor! Besides, why would an Uchiha need it, and embrace such a _weak_ thing like that in the first place? Not that you're honor will help you in the Leaf, as the village will always hate, and despise you for you are. I'll make sure they continue to hate you too by telling everyone about your Hollow side. I'll make sure the hatred of the old generation passes down to the younger generation and you _never_ become Hokage like your bastard Father!" said Sasuke, as blood now overflowed from his mouth, and glared hatefully at Naruto with Sharingan Eyes spinning at him.

"Like I really care what those idiots who would follow you think of me. Besides, most of those stupid people you said would hate me while poisoning the minds of the younger generation were all already arrested, or executed on the orders of the Hokage herself. You are alone Sasuke. You're an arrogant fool on an island, alone, where no one hears, or listens to your voice speaking poisonous words into their ears," said Naruto before backing handing the Uchiha in the mouth with enough force to break his jaw and knocked out a few teeth.

And knocked the Uchiha unconscious.

"Winner: Namikaze Naruto!" said Hayate seeing Naruto walk away while medics took Sasuke elsewhere.

"Remind me to have Inoichi dive into the boy's head and find out just how screwed up he really is?" said Tsunade to Ibiki, who nodded in agreement, and knew Sasuke was in need of some serious mental help.

With his victory official, Naruto was instantly back on viewing area above the arena, and beside Hyuuga Hinata now blushing at being so close to him. Kiba growled at Naruto for being so close to _his _Hinata, but the Namikaze merely ignored the Inuzuka, and talked to the girl no doubt thinking perverted thoughts about him.

"You did very well Naruto-kun," said Hinata seeing Naruto shrug a bit since beating Sasuke wasn't really a great leap forward in his book.

Though it was fun.

"As will you when its your turn to fight Hinata-chan," said Naruto smiling at the blushing girl while noticing Hinata's Jounin sensei Yuhi Kurenai keeping a close I on him to make sure he didn't do or say anything perverted.

"I hope so. I've gotten stronger, but a lot of people here are just as strong, and I don't want to disappoint you," said Hinata with Naruto smiling a gentle smile at her.

"Hinata-chan, we've been over this before. I could never be disappointed in you. All I ask when competing in the Prelims. is that you try your hardest. Just give it your all and hold nothing back," said Naruto with an arm wrapped around her shoulder and enjoyed the red face the girl now sported.

_Hyuuga Neji VS Hyuuga Hinata_

_**"You were saying?"**_ said Hollow Naruto inside the Namikaze's head.

'Shut your mouth!' thought Naruto while seeing the worried look on Hinata's face and the confident smirk on Neji's.

'Hinata,' thought Kurenai knowing how Hinata valued family and how this was her one of her few weaknesses.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan. Just try your best," said Naruto seeing Hinata smile at him and nod before walking down to the arena floor to face her cousin.

"You should forfeit this match Hinata-sama. Fate decrees I will be the winner. If you quit now, it would prevent you from facing your Father injured, and in shame of losing to me in battle," said Neji seeing Hinata look at him for a second and then back up at Naruto before activating her Byakugan.

"No. I won't quit. I will fight you with everything I've got!" said Hinata, as she got into her clan's Gentle Fist stance, and Neji did the same with his bloodline activated.

"It doesn't matter how hard you try. You will still lose," said Neji, as Hayate started the match, and the Hyuuga Prodigy ran forward to draw first blood.

Hinata stayed defensive through the fighting, as she was not an offensive person like her cousin, and managed to keep Neji's attacks from causing significant damage. However, even with that in mind, Neji was older then her, and his eyes were more developed. Neji had more combat experience then Hinata, trained constantly with a Taijutsu Master for a sensei, sparred with his future Taijutsu Master that was his teammate Lee, and sadly for Hinata...had no problem attacking members of his family.

As for Neji himself, his own patience was beginning to thin with all of Hinata's defensive maneuvering, which was considered wrong in the eyes of the Hyuuga Clan, and an insult to their bloodline. What was even more appalling to the Hyuuga Prodigy was the strange flexible manner Hinata used her Gentle Fist, and went against the traditional version of the Hyuuga Clan always followed.

In Neji's mind...such insolence was punishable by death.

With that in mind, the Hyuuga Prodigy moved faster, clearly now intent on removing Hinata not only from the Chuunin Exams, but from this world all together, and it was making some people very nervous. Others were angry, as they had expected more from Neji in not letting any personal grudge against the Main family of the Hyuuga Clan take control, and try to lash out at his cousin. Hinata herself had also become aware of the sudden aggressive nature of her cousin, trying to keep up with his attacks trying to hit vital, and life threatened if struck parts of her body.

'I won't lose. Naruto-kun believes in me so I must believe in myself too. Watch Naruto-kun. Watch me show you my strength,' thought Hinata, as she dodged another strike by Neji, and countered with one of her own that sent the boy skidding back.

'How? How is she doing this? Hinata's suppose to be weak. Timid even. And yet...she's somehow holding her own against me. I have to end this. For the traditions of the Hyuuga Clan, Hinata must fall, and be made an example of. _Especially _to the Namikaze,' thought Neji, as he felt the boy needed to be taken down a peg, and show him what despair was like in seeing someone you care about fall!

Hinata however, kept defending herself from his attacks, and landed another hit to his right shoulders that effectively weakened Neji's attempts against her. Neji soon became enraged by this, as he began to unmercifully bombard Hinata with attempts to end her life, and the Hyuuga Heiress just barely dodged them. Still, Hinata endured it all, as she fought back, and was able to duck under an uppercut before striking Neji even harder in the stomach.

Neji went skidding back once more, growling angrily at Hinata's attempt at defying her Fate in losing to him, and charged again with even greater intent on putting the girl down for the count..._permanently_! Sensing his intent, Hinata dodged the strike, which had it made contact would have indeed killed her almost instantly, and did a spin kick to his skull hard enough to knock Neji down onto the ground.

And was finding it difficult to get up.

"Enough! Hyuuga Neji is unable to fight. Winner is Hyuuga Hinata," said Hayate seeing Hinata bow and walking away while Neji slowly get off the ground with blood leaking out of the side of his mouth.

And an insane look in his eyes.

His anger rising to such a level only fueled the boy into rising up unexpectedly and rush towards an unsuspecting Hinata currently too exhausted from the fight to properly defend herself from his attack. With one shot, Neji struck Hinata in the chest area, sending the girl flying into the wall, and fell down into unconsciousness.

"Hinata!" said Kurenai, as she rushed to her student, and saw Naruto was instantly at her side with Tsunade soon joining them.

"Hinata's been hit near her heart. We need to treat her immediately or else she could die," said Tsunade, as she along with Shizune quickly left with Hinata, and Kurenai joining them while glaring for a few seconds at Neji.

"Serves her right. That disgrace to the Hyuuga Clan will no longer use such a disgraceful version of the Gentle Fist," said Neji with a smirk on his face while ignoring the killer intent from some of the people in the room.

However, he couldn't ignore the spiritual pressure that soon filled the room, and making everyone in it fall to their knees in submission. The ground broke, the walls cracked, and the people in the room felt the strong urge to throw up what they ate a week ago. When Neji looked up, he found Naruto walking towards him slowly, in a calculating manner before picking the Hyuuga Prodigy up by his throat, and the pressure seemed to increase. It was in that moment, Neji realized Naruto was suffocating the life out of him, and felt like he was staring into the eyes of his own death.

"You had no _right_ to do that to her baka. If she dies or is unable to live her life happily from this...I'll break you. I'll break you in the worst way. Believe me when I say I'll take my time tearing you apart _piece by piece_ and you will _beg me_ to kill you before I'm done turning your body into a blood stain!" said Naruto before throwing Neji onto the ground and stopped the spiritual pressure from killing everyone.

Even if some of them deserved to die.

_Sabaku no Gaara VS Akado Yoroi_

With things calmed down, the Chuunin Exam Prelims. resumed with Suna once again facing a Leaf Shinobi and Suna won hands down with Gaara crushing his opponent trying to drain the Kazekage's youngest child's chakra. Not a smart thing to do when the target in question is the one-tailed Jinchuriki with body crushing sand that comes to life and kill its enemies when its host is threatened.

_Sabaku no Temari VS Isis Tenten_

This fight was actually entertaining in Naruto's eyes, as he saw the two girl duke it out with their own respectful skills, but even as he watched them both fight, the Namikaze still thought about Hinata, and her current condition. She had fought her cousin, nervous in hurting a member of the family the Hyuuga Heiress wished to become whole again, and Neji being the sore loser had struck out in an act of a spiteful child being denied a toy after it was given to another.

_**"You should let me out. I could teach Neji-baka a lesson. I know you wanted to. I can feel it. He deserves to suffer. We both know this. We also know the Hyuuga Elders will use their connections to have the Hokage drop the matter and call it a Clan Affair,"**_ said the Hollow side of Naruto inside the Namikaze's head.

'Shut up! You're lucky I don't take all my anger out on you. I'm very close to doing _that _at the moment! Now shut your mouth or I'll do just that,' thought Naruto sensing the Hollow in him respectfully do what he asked.

_**"You can't keep him at bay forever Naruto. With each passing day, he grows stronger, and can't be denied control of your body. Sooner or later you will have no choice, but to face your inner Hollow, and force him into submission like you will me when its time to learn Bankai,"**_ said Zangetsu finally speaking to Naruto though he could sense the boy didn't want to talk right now.

'I'll deal with that when the time comes. Not now. Not yet!' thought Naruto seeing Temari had become the victor using a Wing Jutsu from the use of her Iron Fan.

"Winner: Sabaku no Temari!" said Hayate seeing the Suna woman walk up the steps while slightly eyeing Naruto and wondering if he was watching her fight.

"Enough! The list of contestants for the Chuunin Exam Finals has dwindled to an amount where we can proceed with finding out who fights who in one Month time. Please step forward and grab a piece of paper with a number on it and announce the number so we can choose who face who," said Ibiki seeing each take a piece of paper and reveal which one they had.

"I have # 6," said Choji knowing he had a Month to prepare.

"Troublesome. I have # 3," said Shikamaru with a sigh while hoping his opponent wasn't the girl from Suna.

"I have # 4," said Kankuro showing his number.

"I have # 7," said Kiba showing his own number.

"I have # 5" said Shino in a monotone voice.

"I have # 2," said Gaara with the cheer of a graveyard in his voice.

"I have #1. Fitting really," said Naruto showing his number.

"I have # 8," said Temari with a smirk on her face while Shikamaru let out a small sigh of relief.

In an instant, a Medic Nin appeared beside Ibiki, and whispered something into his ear before the Head of the I&T Dept. nodded in understanding. When Naruto saw Ibiki stare at him for the briefest of seconds, the Namikaze knew it was about Hinata, and it wasn't good news.

"Hyuuga Hinata will be unable to participate in the Chuunin Exams. Her condition has left her in the hospital for almost a Month with therapy from the Hokage being required afterwards. Her position is therefore vacant and will not be filled by anyone," said Ibiki, who held back the shiver that ran up his spine when he saw Naruto's eyes narrow with righteous anger glowing in those blue eyes of his, and it made the scarred man concerned that this would push the boy over the edge.

And there was no telling what those Arrancar for parents Naruto had would do too!

As for Naruto, he was now looking up at the railing where Hyuuga Neji was, and saw the fear was apparent in the boy's eyes.

'Soon Neji. Soon you will know pain like never before,' thought Naruto, as he _almost_ wished Neji would be allowed to participate in the Chuunin Exams Finals, and give the Namikaze an excuse to wipe the boy off the face of the planet.

But that could wait. First, Naruto would check up on Hinata, and see to it she knew how proud he was of her victory.

Then he would kill Neji. _Painfully_!

(A/N: YAY! I updated. Been a long time. I know. I know. But you have to admit, writing this part of Naruto's life is always difficult to do, and so draining. And if anyone denies it, then they're liars, and don't know squat about writing! Until next time...PEACE!)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8-Hollow Fury

(A/N: Yeah I know. Long time coming. Blame the economy. LOL! But seriously, I've been busy, and a mind tends to wander after awhile. The poll is over and to be honest it has been for sometime before now. I just wanted to see how far people would go in the voting and boy did it go far. Nearly 1000 votes total. WOW! Now _THAT _is democracy at work right there. ENJOY!)

Naruto sat in a chair next to Hinata's bed, his eyes never leaving the girl fighting for her life after what Neji had done upon losing to the girl in the Preliminaries, and what it had awakened within the Namikaze. The blonde was completely livid inside, his own various emotions had become a chaotic storm that would rip apart anyone unfortunate enough to get sucked into it, and no one was that stupid in provoking what lay within him.

"Naruto," was the smooth feminine voice that only his Mother could produce.

"I can't talk right now Mom. It...it hurts to much to talk about it," said Naruto, as he could not look at the woman that saved him from his own Hell, and mold him into the warrior she was proud to call her son.

"I know. I know how much it hurts. You know of the Fracción I had in my other life in Hueco Mundo, right?" said Tia, as she saw him nod, but never look away from Hinata, and just stare at the girl barely clinging to life.

"Yes. They were precious to you," said Naruto while putting a hand on Hinata's own.

"Then you know how much it hurts to see someone close to you near death. What will you do now my son?" said Tia, as she saw him finally look at her, and with cold blue eyes that were filled with fury.

"I'm going to train for the Chuunin Exam Finals. I'm going to make sure that something like this _never_ happens again on my watch," said Naruto before kissing Hinata's hand and left the room.

"And Hyuuga Neji? What have you decided with him?" said Tia having decided to watch over the girl for now in her son's absence.

"I thought that would be obvious at this point. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him and there is not a soul in this world that can stand in my way," said Naruto coldly before he left the room to leave his Mother to stare at Hinata.

"He loves you girl. I hope you know that. Naruto may not know it yet, but his heart is in such a state of pain because of the love he feels for you, and the belief in his mind that he could have done something to stop Neji from hurting you. It will no doubt haunt him for years. My son doesn't think you are weak Hinata. Far from it. However, my son also does not want someone he cares about to fall at the hands of such a coward like Neji, and those like him," said Tia knowing the girl loved Naruto back, but it was hard for her to admit it, and even then there was a chance the Hyuuga Clan would denounce such happiness.

(Hokage Tower-A Few Days Later)

"You little shit! Do you know what you've done?" said Tsunade, as she glared evilly at the bound Hyuuga Branch member, and saw he was not feeling guilty in the slightest.

"Simple. I removed a stain on the Hyuuga Clan," said Neji calmly despite the ANBU flanking him ready to kill him on the Hokage's order should she give it.

"Not quite. Fortunately, I was able to save Hinata from your cowardly act, and she is now slowly recovering in the hospital. She'll be there for nearly a Month," said Tsunade while seeing anger flash briefly in the Hyuuga's eyes.

'Damn it!' thought Neji knowing his chance to remove Hinata permanently had been lost.

"Oh it gets better. You see, I had a nice, and _looong_ talk with my Godson. He wants you dead and in a very bad way. I'd give the order right here with these two ANBU doing it themselves if I believed that it would make all parties wanting your ass dead to be happy. You see after that talk we had on deciding what to do you Neji, Naruto came up with an _ingenious _way to see you suffer, and it was ironically enough thanks to Rock Lee's help," said Tsunade looking at the shock Hyuuga boy in front of her.

"Rock Lee? That _failure_? He didn't even get a chance to fight due to the forfeiting of his own opponent," said Neji seeing Tsunade scowl at him.

"Yes. Your teammate feels himself unworthy of his position and even more so just by _being_ your teammate. By backing out of the Chuunin Exam Finals, a spot has opened up, which we now have to fill despite one already vacant from Hinata herself now that her injuries make it impossible for the girl to compete," said Tsunade while Neji had the _nerve_ smirked slightly thinking he would participate in the Chuunin Exams after all.

'So Fate sides with me at last,' thought Neji before the smirk was literally backhanded off his face by Tsunade's fist.

"Wipe the stupid smirk off your face you fool! Naruto suggested this. Not me. You see, the lineup of matches has changed drastically because of his suggestion, and it won't be Naruto VS Sabaku no Gaara. No! Naruto will be fighting _YOU_!" said Tsunade seeing the Hyuuga boy looking at her with surprise and a hint of fear.

Good! The fear of death would make things worse for the Hyuuga.

"N-Naruto?" said Neji, as he remembered that murderous look the Namikaze had, and how the blonde wanted to rip him to pieces.

"Yes. Naruto. My Godson wants you in the arena. There, I will announce the changes to the match lineup, and why you are fighting against him. I'm going to enjoy watching the people of this village show you the same hatred they've shown Naruto when I tell them how you tried to kill your cousin out of spite after she won her match against you," said Tsunade seeing Neji realize just how bad this would become.

The people would forever hate him. The people would forever speak his name of one of dishonor. Even the Hyuuga Clan would have no choice, but to do the same, and speak ill of his actions despite the Elders wanting this more then himself.

"I want to make a deal," said Neji quickly in the hopes he could possibly bargain with the Hokage.

"No deals. No pleas from you. I don't care what you have to offer me or Naruto. You are going to fight him and you are going to _die_! At least have the spine to die fighting," said Tsunade seeing the boy was now understanding what it meant to feel fear.

"And if I should somehow win against Naruto?" said Neji hopefully while wondering if he would somehow earn his freedom.

"You won't. If by _some_ act of Kami that you _do_ win...I'll finish what he started and you'll beg for death before then," said Tsunade before motioning her two ANBU to take the brat out of her sight.

(Sarutobi Clan Home-Three Weeks Later)

"He doesn't want to see you Naruto. Hell, my Father didn't want to speak to Jiraiya, or Tsunade since his seclusion," said Asuma while letting the boy in on the Hokage's orders.

"I'm not giving him a choice," said Naruto while sensing where the retired Hokage was and headed for the old man.

The former Sandaime Hokage was seated in a chair just outside the house in the backyard by the door, sitting their with a cup of tea in hand, a blanket around his waist, and looking like an old man in a retirement home currently enjoying the last few years of his life that he had left before the end came. Some of the signs of stress from the many long years of working behind the Hokage's desk were not there so much like they were before Tsunade took over. For a man not wanting to be disturbed, Naruto could see Sarutobi Hiruzen was having a nice day, and didn't want it ruined by anyone.

"I have been waiting for you to visit me ever since the entire Month since the Chuunin Exam Preliminaries ended Naruto," said Hiruzen while turning to see Naruto and saw the boy had changed from the two last saw each other.

The boy wore all black. It actually suited him much better then orange though Uzumakis were known to have strange tastes. Black pants, shirt, and trench coat with the orange colored kanji for "Hollow Fox" on it if the blonde were to show it off to the old man. On the Genin's back was the kid's zanpakuto and the old Hokage wondered how Tsunade could even allow the fox to have any form of freedom outside of Naruto.

"I saw you now because I've finished training for the Chuunin Exam Finals and wanted to take a few days left before then to handle some unfinished business.

"With your..._sword_," said Hiruzen while seeing Naruto's eyes narrow at him.

"So you know the source behind its creation," said Naruto with the old man nodding with a frown on his face.

"Word spreads fast and I make it my business to still hear things when it pertains to you Naruto," said Hiruzen before sipping some of his tea.

"Still trying to figure out a way to manipulate me like before huh? I thought your second time into retirement would have helped you let go of such an obsession. Of course, you were always obsessed with power, and Kyuubi is power incarnate with its wielder being unstoppable with the right training," said Naruto seeing the former Hokage frown at his words.

"You still hate me for what I did in making your life miserable," said Hiruzen while the blonde in front of him just scoffed.

"I got over it a long time ago. I'm here because I want to know why you commissioned Orochimaru to make a seal to counter the one holding Kyuubi? Jiraiya _told you_ that if such a seal was put on me for too long, I would be turned into a bomb, and go boom in a heavily enemy infested area. Yet you had it on hand to use regardless. Why? Wasn't it enough that I was treated like crap and forced to serve in ungrateful village?" said Naruto with the former Hokage of Konoha looking away from him.

"You wouldn't understand Naruto. The people wanted you dead or under control. I had to compromise with the populace," said Hiruzen while trying to sip some more tea, but the blonde took it from his hand, and crushed the cup with ease.

"You couldn't have just kept the secret from them.? Like by...oh I don't know..._not telling them_!" said Naruto seeing the old man look away from his line of sight.

"It was impossible to hide the truth. Your Father wanted them to know since he believed the people of Konoha would see you as a hero. I was simply following his dying wish," said Hiruzen while Naruto scowled at him further.

"You only let half of the dying wish come true. Not once did you ever try to correct the mess you made in the process. You just..._compromised_ with them. You. The _Hokage _of Konoha. The proclaimed _Kami of Shinobi _was bargaining with people that couldn't hold a candle to your skills and years of experience. _Compromising_ with them rather then just putting your foot down like a Kage would and should do. Do you even feel any guilt about what you did?" said Naruto, as he saw the former Sandaime Hokage look at him, and it was clear the man didn't care.

"No. Everything that I have done to ensure the village stayed strong, including my own actions in denying the life that you should have had, I feel was the correct path, and there is no guilt in my heart," said Hiruzen while Naruto just looked at him with disgust.

"My Father would disagree. So would my Mother," said Naruto while Hiruzen scoffed.

"Your surrogate parents and their opinions don't count," said Hiruzen before feeling the blade that was Zangetsu at his throat.

"I was talking about my _biological parents_ you dumb old fool! Do you really think they would have agreed to your actions?" said Naruto while Hiruzen seemed fearful of the zanpakuto.

"They would not have been unbiased," said Hiruzen while flinching at feeling the blade touch his neck.

"As you were? I know about your wife. I know how she was killed when my Mother was pregnant and you blame the Kyuubi for it. So how can _you_ be more unbiased then them?" said Naruto while Hiruzen frowned at the memory of his wife being found dead.

_**"He can't answer Naruto. He didn't even expect you to know that piece of information I told you,"**_ said Zangetsu knowing that the old man wouldn't be able to give an answer unless it was a lie.

"You are hypocrite and liar. You betrayed my Mother, my Father, Godmother, and I am ashamed of you for how your greatness in being the Hokage has been _tainted_ by your own actions against me. You may not feel guilt now old man, but know this...Hell will make you know guilt, and you _will_ beg for mercy in the dark cold abyss. Enjoy your remaining years old man. They will be as close to Heaven as you will _ever_ get in this life," said Naruto before leaving the former Sandaime Hokage to dwell on his words.

_**"You spared him. Why?"**_ said Zangetsu curiously.

'It doesn't matter if I kill him or not Zangetsu. The old man is going to Hell regardless of how it happens. Nothing can change that for him,' thought Naruto while going to spend the remainder of the day with his two favorite girls right now.

Haku and Hinata.

(Konoha Hospital)

"You are looking better," said Haku, as she had been assigned to watch over Hinata, and saw the Hyuuga girl was making a strong recovery.

"Thank you. I feel better thanks to Tsunade-sama and her healing me. I just wish...," said Hinata, as she had been told what awaited Neji, and how it was going to happen.

"That Neji would not have such hatred in his heart. That he was not about to be slain and his dishonorable act revealed to the village," said Haku, as she saw Hinata nod, and knew it was hurting the girl inside.

"I know Neji doesn't mean it deep down. Surely the grief of losing his Father because of my failure to act all those years ago hasn't removed the good in him," said Hinata while Haku just smiled at her.

"It was _never _your fault," said Naruto having entered the room and now getting their attention focused on him.

"But it was! I was too weak and...," said Hinata, but the Namikaze's raised hand put a stop to that, and he walked over to her.

"You were three years old and just starting to learn your Gentle Fist Style. You were also asleep in the safety of your own house and had no reason to suspect someone would even try such an ct. How could a child fight off a Jounin level Shinobi?" said Naruto seeing the girl look down and he could see she had reached the same conclusion as he did.

"I couldn't," said Hinata with Naruto nodding.

"Correct. Neji's actions against you were unjust. His actions were his own. While there is grief at the loss of his Father dying in the aftermath of it all to keep the peace, it was one worthy of a Hero, and it was one that should have been honored," said Naruto seeing the girl admit that his words held a great deal of weight to them.

"I have always honored my Uncle. In fact, I have wished to remove the Cage Bird Seal from my clan from awhile now, and use an alternative that would unite our family," said Hinata seeing Naruto smile at such a noble goal.

"Does Neji know about this?" said Haku knowing if he did it might have changed the Hyuuga's opinion about Hinata.

"It wasn't like I kept it a secret. Anyone in the clan regardless of their position could see how much I hated the Cage Bird Seal being used. It was a perversion of the true purpose behind its original creation. In fact, I have long believed the version we use now is a second generation based version from the original, but any proof I've found has always been circumstantial, and any attempt to dig deeper puts myself at risk of being marked too," said Hinata seeing Haku and Naruto look at each other before back at her.

"Second generation. What was the first one like?" said Naruto curiously.

"From what I was able to gather, the first generation Cage Bird Seal was made for the purpose in sealing the clan's bloodline upon death, or the risk of it being removed while the Hyuuga was alive. But sometime after Konoha was founded and the Hyuuga Clan had joined, a _new_ version was made with the approval of the Shodaime himself in return for the clan's loyalty. At first, I didn't understand why until I saw the Shodaime was married to an Uzumaki, and apparently Uzumakis were feared if not respected for their unrivaled skills in the Sealing Arts. I think the Shodaime allowed such a thing because he knew the Uzumaki Clan could one day make a newer version of the Cage Bird Seal that everyone in the Hyuuga Clan could wear," said Hinata seeing Naruto nod since he had inherited that skill from his Mother.

"I heard the Uzumaki Clan was wiped out with Naruto-kun being the last of their blood," said Haku seeing the Hyuuga girl nod and Naruto doing so with a sad look on his face.

"They were so any chance of a new seal being made was lost with them," said Hinata, as she saw Naruto smirking now, and frowned in curiosity.

"Not necessarily. I am very skilled in seals and an Uzumaki on my Mother's side. I just need a little time and could probably make a newer version that everyone in your clan could wear," said Naruto seeing Hinata's eyes shine with hope in them.

"R-Really?" said Hinata with Naruto smiling at her.

"I'll use all my skills to do it. I won't be able to make it out of thin air of course and I need to have some more training with Jiraiya-san since he's the last Seal Master Konoha has right now. It will take time to get to his level if not surpass him in the Sealing Arts," said Naruto knowing he will need to focus more time on that skill to make Hinata's dream come true.

"I can wait. All I ask is that it one day happen," said Hinata seeing Naruto nod knowing he would use all his power to make her dream a reality.

"It will. Sadly, Neji will not live long enough to see it become a reality," said Naruto, as he saw Hinata nod, and look away with a sense of sadness once more cloaking her form.

"Could you spare him? Please!" said Hinata, as she saw Naruto look away, and it was clear he didn't want to do that.

"Its not possible now. Even if I didn't fight him, Neji would die anyway by the order of the Hokage, and not even my connection in being her Godson has the power to change the woman's mind. He violated Konoha Laws with what your cousin did after you won your match against him. One way or another...Neji is a dead man," said Naruto seeing Hinata unable to look at him while grief took her once more and had to leave the room knowing she probably didn't want to see him right now.

"Don't blame Naruto-kun for this Hinata-chan," said Haku putting a hand on the girl and felt Hinata shaking slightly.

"That's just it Haku-chan. I don't blame Naruto-kun for this. I can only blame Neji. Does that make me a bad person?" said Hinata seeing the other girl smile at her.

"No. Never! Neji started this. He tried to kill you in your match and after it was over out of spite. It was his own anger and thirst for petty revenge that caused his downfall. No one, not even your desire to remove the Cage Bird Seal could save him, and the only thing to do now...is to see this tragedy to its end," said Haku, as she held the girl closer, and Hinata just held onto her.

Outside the room, Naruto was leaning against the wall, and turned his head to see his surrogate Arrancar for a Father walk towards him. The man didn't need to have sensory abilities to know his surrogate vizard of a son was having a bit of a guilty conscious over killing Hinata's jerk for a cousin. After Naruto came home when the Preliminaries were over, the Namikaze went right into his training, and didn't stop until he was exhausted. Naruto sparred against both parents, trying to provoke his Inner Hollow to rise up, and they could get their inevitable confrontation over with. It took roughly two weeks, but Naruto had tamed his Inner Hollow, which had known everything he knew, and possibly more from all those repressed desires that his opposite had been holding onto.

(Flashback-Naruto's Mindscape)

_**"You're finally here. Let's do this!"**_ said Hollow Naruto with his version of Zangetsu while Naruto had his own and Zangetsu himself was suspended in the air wrapped in chains.

"Bring it!" said Naruto, as the two charged, and clashed against the other in a vicious sword duel to the death.

_**"You think this will be easy? Wrong! I know every move you'll make. Even a few that you wouldn't dare use knowing it goes against your honor,"**_ said Hollow Naruto while the two were deadlocked in a power struggle.

"Oh yeah?" said Naruto kneeing his Hollow side in the balls hard to force the pale representation of himself back.

_**"OW! You son of a bitch!"**_ said Hollow Naruto keeping his weapon up with one hand and clutching his crotch with the other.

"Still think I won't fight a little dirty?" said Naruto while his Hollow scowled at first, but then smiled at him, and then laughed.

_**"No. I suppose not. You really are the most surprising Shinobi in Konoha. You even managed to surprise a part of yourself. Of course, you do realize...this means war!"**_ said Hollow Naruto with his human counter part motioning him to attack and see just how far they could go.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," said Naruto with Hollow Naruto straightening himself up further.

_**"Me neither!"**_ said Hollow Naruto before the two clashed and the mindscape they did battle shook violently around them.

(End Flashback

The next two weeks were spent with Bankai. That was just as hard if not _harder_ to learn then taming his Inner Hollow. Zangetsu had wanted a fight between himself and Naruto in a battle where the only way the Namikaze could achieve Bankai was to force his prize of a zanpakuto into submission. It nearly killed him, but Naruto had succeeded in his attempt, and only now was taking a much needed rest for his body to adjust to this new level of power.

"Thinking about what's going to happen two days from now?" said Grimmjow seeing the blonde nod.

"Yeah. I want to kill Neji for nearly killing Hinata-chan. You have no idea. And yet...if I do then there is a risk she'll hate me. I don't want her to hate me. I want...I want...," said Naruto not knowing if he could even finish the damn sentence.

"You want her love," said Grimmjow seeing Naruto look up at him before looking away with a tinge of a blush on his face.

"Do you think I can still achieve having it?" said Naruto while Grimmjow just sighed with his eyes closed in thought for a few seconds before opening them.

"I think...I thinking you need to ask yourself a simple question. That question is, 'Have I done everything in my power to give Neji a chance to turn himself around from being a complete and total asshole?'" said Grimmjow while Naruto nodded his head.

"I did. I gave him a chance. Hinata gave him a chance. Everyone put up with him due to a sense of pity regarding his position and the loss of his Father. But after what he tried to do and almost killing Hinata-chan...I couldn't pity him anymore. I can't and won't pity him anymore," said Naruto knowing what he had to do, but still didn't like it, and his Father knew this too.

"Its going to hurt. It may even be a little awkward for you two after this thing ends. _But_, time will help you overcome this, and you two will become stronger for it in the end," said Grimmjow seeing Naruto smirk up at his dad.

"Does this mean you forgive that Kurosaki Ichigo kid for beating you in Hueco Mundo?" said Naruto seeing his Father get angry before hitting the blonde on the head.

"Hell no! If I saw that punk again I would kick his ass _just_ for being alive in this world and staring at me!" said Grimmjow before going on a rant about orange haired Substitute Shinigami and the injustice of them trying to be better then him.

'Works every time I bring it up,' thought Naruto before leaving his surrogate Father alone to rant in the hospital hallway and further make everyone seeing him think he was crazy.

(Chuunin Exam Finals)

Naruto was standing beside the other contestants, as the stadium began to fill with people, and saw Gaara looking less then pleased while leaking killer intent at everyone around him. Like everyone else, Gaara had been inform of the slight change in the lineup with Rock Lee not participating, and Neji taking his spot while facing Naruto instead of the Kazekage's youngest child. That match would happen _after_ Naruto defeated Neji, which many had long since speculated was not even possible despite how the blonde was the Yondaime's son, though there were still many, who would denounce that truth, and call Naruto the demon fox in human flesh.

Not that Naruto cared what they thought of him.

"Bring Neji in the line with the others. On the opposite end of where Naruto is standing," said Tsunade seeing the ANBU nod and depart while the Kazekage entered the Kage Booth.

And stopped to see the two former Espada sitting beside the Hokage.

'Damn it! There is no telling how strong those two are and my spies have not located any kind of weakness,' thought Orochimaru, who was _disguised _as the Kazekage, and using this fake position of power to instigate a means to have Suna ally with him for the planed invasion that would soon take place.

"Welcome Kazekage-sama. You are looking well," said Tsunade, as she already knew of Orochimaru's plans for the invasion after Jiraiya's spy network informed him of Suna's actions in bringing their clearly unstable Jinchuriki to the Chuunin Exams, and how that one girl Kin had told Ibiki about the secret alliance the Sannin had with them.

It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

"I feel well Hokage-sama though the weather in Konoha is much..._cooler_ then in Suna. I find it will still takes some getting use to during my stay here," said the 'Kazekage' while Tsunade just smiled at him though he suspected it was one meant for being politically nice then anything.

"Shall we not delay. Let the first match of the Chuunin Exams begin!" said Tsunade, as she saw the crowd cheer, and saw the Jounin Proctor motion for two of the Genin to stay while the others went to the fighter's box.

"Are you both ready?" said Genma seeing Naruto nod and Neji doing the same.

"Let's get this over with. The fact Hinata has to watch in the stands is bad enough given the fact she's watching me about to kill him," said Naruto seeing Genma nod while Neji just scowled.

"So you say. But make no mistake _Namikaze_, I will kill you before my end, and take a great deal of satisfaction denying Hinata another form of happiness," said Neji getting into his Gentle Fist stance.

"For a so called Prodigy amongst your clan, you are really stupid, and pathetic in every aspect. So much spite and hatred for the one person that hates the seal on your forehead more then you do," said Naruto while Neji scowled further in anger.

"What's your point?" said Neji while waiting for Naruto to make a move.

"My point Neji is more of a question and the question is..._why_? Why do you hate the one person, who wants to set you free, and unite the clan as one whole family?" said Naruto, as he wanted to know Neji's answer, and depending on the answer would determined just how much the Hyuuga would suffer.

"Because she's _weak nothing_! Hinata will _never_ achieve her goal. Such a goal is meant for weaklings, who wishes to redeem her side of the family, and erase the humiliation _mine_ has had to endure for years! Hinata is weak, she knows its, and she cannot risk the Branch family rising up against her when becoming Clan Head so the girl plays _nice_! She is taking the cowards way out in facing the Branch family and using her gentle nature to win them over! The girl is a _fraud_! Does she really think that by changing things once becoming Clan Head will unite the Hyuuga Clan? That fool will only make it _implode_ for the Branch family will _never_ let it go and I won't either. If Hinata was standing within striking distance of me right now I would _kill her _without regret!" said Neji venomously while Naruto just stared back at him and sensed sadness coming from Hinata since she had heard his words due to the hidden seals in the arena that enhanced their words so just about everyone would know what they were saying.

"And your Father? What would he say about this if he were alive?" said Naruto while Neji just kept feeling anger boiling within him now at the mention of his sire.

"My Father would agree with me. He'd lead the Branch family against the Main and show those pathetic Slave Overseers just what we _think_ of their side of the family!" said Neji while Naruto sighed, looked at Hinata, then the Hokage, his Arrancar parents who both just nodded with that being their own signal to do what needed to be done, and then right back to the Hyuuga in front of him.

"I was hoping that you would have a sense of clarity Neji. Its actually kind of sad to see someone such as yourself become poisoned by hatred to such a level that you would turn on the one person, maybe the _only_ person capable of helping the Branch family end their enslavement to the Main family, and unite the Hyuuga Clan the way it was meant to be from the start," said Naruto seeing Neji scoff at him.

"Don't tell me about hatred hypocrite! You hate this village for what they've done and wish to see its people suffer. How is my hatred for my clan any different then your own hatred for this village?" said Neji while many in the stadium tensed while watching the Namikaze carefully to see if he would actually confess to willingly commit treason to spite Konoha.

"Your right. I do hate village. I hate them just as much as they hate me. Will I kill them? Maybe. Maybe not. Its hard to say. Most its people deserve to die. _Some_ deserve mercy. Not all, but some of them do. Like your cousin for example though you wouldn't be able to see why Hinata deserves mercy. Will I betray Konoha as a whole? No. Will I defend it? Yes. If I see a civilian, who I know tried to kill me by say...a sword to my gut on my fifth birthday about the die at the hands of an enemy Shinobi, and get sent to Hell for past sin. Do I save him? No. Why should I? He's a distraction. His purpose is to die at the hands of the enemy, who then dies at my hands for being distracted, and the status quo is evened out. Everyone, who wronged me will not be saved by my hands when facing an enemy, and I have no doubt if roles were reversed they would do the same thing. Why? Because they are like you. They think Kami favors them. They think the sins they have committed will be ignored by the Gods above. Some of them even think that they are _beyond _Kami's control and can do whatever they want simply because they've survived for this long. No more. No more protection from people like me that they hate. No more will good people like my Mother and Father die for the ungrateful maggots that trample on their legacy just to get their kicks in. When its time comes to pay the piper, they will pay what is owed, or they will pay the _ultimate price_!" said Naruto while many in the stand were now sweating nervously since many had caused the boy harm over the years.

"And what price would that be?" said Neji while Naruto brought his left hand to his face and then moved it down like he was pulling something over himself.

_**"The love and respect of their children!"**_ said Naruto with his Hollow Mask now on his face and scaring Neji at the sight of the sudden change.

Not to mention everyone else that didn't know were terrified of this change.

"What unholy thing are you?" said Neji while sensing the dark powers of his enemy and wondered just how far Naruto had gone to ensure his death.

_**"Me? Nothing really. You remember when I told you about my Hollow Side during out time in the Forest of Death? This is the end result when I forced him into submission during the Month of training I spent preparing for this day. Now we are no longer two, but one being, and I can call upon this power when needed without risk of it going out of control. You wanted to hurt Hinata and you succeeded. By doing this, you not only hurt me, but everyone that cares about her, and THAT Neji was a very **__**grave**__** mistake on your part,"**_ said Naruto while Neji realized that his skills with Gentle Fist may not cut here against someone like the Namikaze at the moment.

And shocking everyone when he turned to run from Naruto.

'I don't care if I become a Missing Nin for a short time before I have my seal activated. I won't die by his hands!' thought Neji, as he moved to scale the stadium, and at least make it out of the stadium alive.

_**"COWARD! AT LEAST YOU COULD HAVE DIED FIGHITNG!"**_ yelled Naruto in anger, as he at least expected Neji to die with some form of dignity, but even _that_ was asking too much of the Hyuuga, and made the Namikaze's pity leave him completely.

And it showed when launching dark crimson energy from his zanpakuto that damaged the wall above Neji so the debris would come crashing down on the runaway Hyuuga. Neji had no choice, but to leap away, and dodge the falling chunks of wall before one of the pieces crushed his body in an undignified way unbefitting of any member of the Hyuuga Clan. However, no sooner had he done that did he realized his back was exposed, and Naruto was upon him. The Namikaze kneed the Hyuuga hard in the stomach, followed by the blonde spinning, and smacking the flat side of his zanpakuto against the right side of Neji's face with the force of the impact causing a bruise to cover the entire side struck with a horrible purple like mark in mere seconds. Rolling away from Naruto to dodge a stabbing thrust from the Namikaze, Neji steadied himself despite his knees shaking from the fact his brain was currently feeling off, and vision doubling in seeing two blondes in front of him instead of just the one.

"You think killing me will resolve anything? It won't! Hinata will hate you after this. By killing me you kill her love for you!" said Neji seeing those cruel eyes looking at him and saw the blonde were thinking things over in his head.

_**"You think I don't know that? Its always been a possibility. It's a steep price I've had to consider paying to make sure no one ever wrongs her again. You are going to be a message to everyone in Konoha and the Elemental Countries. The message is quite simple. Anyone who wrongs Hyuuga Hinata will answer to me and my power! **__**You**__** tried to **__**kill**__** your own cousin Hyuuga Neji and nearly succeeded. I think its only fair I return the favor! If it means killing any future relationship with Hinata-chan...THEN SO BE IT!"**_ said Naruto, as he raised his zanpakuto over his head, and the power now radiating from him rose to a seemingly unnatural level while the weapon howled with the fury of its wielder.

"M-Monster!" said Neji, as he backed away from Naruto, but the slowly growing gap was not helping the Hyuuga in the slightest, and the Namikaze did nothing to stop the attack he was about to unleash.

_**"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black from one attempting to kill a member of his own family? Die blood traitor!"**_ said Naruto before bringing down his weapon and line of dark crimson energy came down with it and slicing Neji in half right down the middle before he was obliterated in a violent explosion that left little to find in terms of remains.

"Holy shit! Did he just do what I just saw him do?" said Kiba pointing an accusing finger at Naruto in the arena while many couldn't believe it either.

'Is it wrong to feel horniness from this? And aimed at someone quite a few years younger then myself?' thought Anko since she had to admit that what the Namikaze gaki did was pretty hot.

"What kind of blade can do that?" said Tenten out loud while finding herself unable to mourn the loss of her teammate.

'That was kind of hot. Namikaze huh? Maybe I can convince Gaara to spare him and keep him as my toy. Not to mention the bloodline we would acquire would strengthen Suna,' thought Temari, as she saw the slightly younger blonde below in the arena was well built with lean muscle for one so young.

'Naruto-kun. Even if Hinata won't love you anymore after this, I will gladly fill the spot, and support you in life,' thought Haku, as she let her hand instinctively go to her weapon, and caress the hilt that had once been part of Zabuza's sword before being turned into her own by the Namikaze.

Her love for these two people had in a sense been poured into this weapon when training and Haku could feel it singing back in return. Even _dancing_ in a sense to the rhythm of some unheard of beat Haku felt in her heart whenever she thought of Zabuza or Naruto. How one had raised Haku since she was a little orphaned girl on cold wintery streets and how the second had taken her in without asking anything of her in return aside from the casual training.

"So Hyuuga, still think Naruto's hot stuff? He's a damn monster. Admit it!" said Sasuke while Hinata didn't look at the Uchiha and instead looked at Naruto below to see him "remove" his mask so his sad blue eyes could look at hers.

'Don't hate me Hinata-chan. Neji was too far gone to be spared,' thought Naruto knowing that if Neji was allowed to continue living, the jerk would have found a way to hurt his cousin in another manner, and possibly even worse way then before.

"No. Naruto-kun is not a monster Sasuke," said Hinata at last while keeping her eyes on the blonde boy.

"What? How can you not say that? Look at him? How can you possibly not call that freak of nature a monster?" said Sasuke before Hinata surprisingly grabbed the Uchiha by the collar of his shirt and yanked him close with Byakugan Eyes blazing with fury.

"Because I know Naruto-kun! He gave my cousin to redeem himself and Neji blew it! I can not hate Naruto-kun for doing what is right. If I did then I...then I would be the true monster," said Hinata, as she threw the Uchiha back, and looked at Naruto still staring back in the hopes she would show this what not the end of their relationship.

"Bitch! You dare shove an Uchiha!" said Sasuke rising to strike her, but a firm hand on his shoulder kept him down, and the Uchiha looked to his right to see his older brother Itachi giving him a stern glare.

"Sit down and shut up little brother. You do more harm then good making a scene," said Itachi while he had his Mother look over the Uchiha District for him.

"But she assaulted me!" said Sasuke, but the firm hand of Itachi got firmer, and forced the younger of the two Uchiha to stay in his seat.

"You provoked her Sasuke. Now sit down and keep quiet," said Itachi, as he saw Sasuke sit in his seat, and smacked the back of the boy's head when he glared at Hinata.

Above them, Tsunade had decided to make the announcement behind Naruto's actions, as Neji's during the Chuunin Exam Preliminaries had finally been revealed, and explained the near fatal injury he delivered to Hinata _after_ her declared victory over him. That it was Neji, who was in the wrong, and that Naruto had brought the boy to justice for cruel attack on his own cousin.

"The next match up is about to begin. Namikaze Naruto VS Sabaku no Gaara. Are both fighters ready?" said Genma seeing Gaara appear and ready for a fight.

"Yes. Let's fight," said Gaara since he was ready to engage his enemy.

"Ditto," said Naruto with his zanpakuto at the ready.

"All right then. Namikaze Naruto VS Sabaku no Gaara. Ready? Fight!" said Genma knowing a huge battle was about to begin.

"I'm going to kill you Namikaze," said Gaara while Naruto just readied blade.

"I think you have it backwards Gaara-san. I just hope your sister will understand that this isn't personal and hold it against me," said Naruto, as he saw Gaara's eyes narrow, and the sand come out of the gourd with the intent to strike out against the Namikaze.

"That is her choice," said Gaara while launching his sand at Naruto, who vanished using Flash Step, and appeared several feet away _behind _the Suna Shinobi.

"You lack speed with your sand. I'm guessing all your enemies come at you so the need to increase the speed of your sand makes it slightly above average unless its really close to your body," said Naruto while smirking at Gaara, who frowned at having someone like the Namikaze dodge his sand with ease, and moved to strike him again with it.

And like before, Naruto was gone from his current position, and quickly appeared again in another while he waved at Gaara like they were friends.

"Hold still so I can kill you," said Gaara before launching more sand at Naruto, but the blonde just kept dodging, and had the most _irritating _smile on his face that the Suna Shinobi wanted to rip off before destroying the rest of his body.

"But if I do that, then how can I ask your sister out, and swoon her into leaving Suna?" said Naruto making Gaara becoming angrier for some reason the red haired boy did not quite understand and the blonde felt the girl above glaring at him.

'I take back what I thought earlier. Kill him Gaara!' thought Temari while wondering why that left a bitter taste in her mouth.

'Nice job gaki! You're pissing off the red head by making him go into protective brother mode,' thought Anko though from what she heard of the three siblings from Suna there was never such an issue since Temari was rumored to be almost as scary as Gaara.

Finally, it seemed Naruto had enough of dodging the attacks aimed at him by Gaara, and decided to go on the offensive. Using the Grand Waterfall Jutsu that Jiraiya had taught him, on account of his massive chakra reserves being higher then anyone his age, the Jutsu while less taxing when around actual water was just as effective without it nearby, and the result was Gaara almost drowning from the attack. Since Suna was in the desert regions of Wind Country, the value of water was equal to that of pure gold, and all the known oasis's were guarded heavily since they helped the village survive off what grew there. Not only that, but Suna Shinobi, much less its citizens have been unable to swim unless necessary for a mission teeming with water, and required heading to an oasis for it before the mission was given to the assigned Suna Shinobi.

Gaara had never even _seen_ water until someone had poured him a drink of it and told him what the clear liquid was. When the red haired boy (slowly) got off the ground, his sand looked more like mud, and moved with the speed of a glacier when commanded to act on Gaara's orders. For the youngest of the Kazekage's children, the cold horrible truth that was his weakness had been exposed, and now Shinobi from all over would know how to defeat him. _Kill_ him! Denounce his existence in being a joke! The once feared Sabaku no Gaara _killed_ by some Mist Shinobi after a simple Water Jutsu and decapitation via the use of a sword.

Speaking of swords.

"You lose Gaara. I'm actually playing nice right now because you are a Jinchuriki just like myself. Forfeit now or meet your death here," said Naruto, as he raised his sword over his head, and was ready to bring it down.

'This is bad. Gaara's pride won't let him lose so easily and we need him for the invasion,' thought Temari while Gaara struggled to look up at his opponent.

"Never! I will not lose. I will..._NOT_..._FORFEIT_..._MY_..._EXISTENCE_!" said Gaara, as his eyes filled with murderous rage, and summoned all the sand left in the gourd to create a giant protective ball while preparing to unleash his demon.

"Getsuga Tenshō!" said Naruto, as he unleashed the power of his zanpakuto, and the attack was more then enough to stop Gaara from unleashing his demon's power.

Gaara's sand had become nonexistent, his body was badly injured, and hitting the wall behind him only added to further increase his injuries. However, Gaara tried to still rise from the ground, his eyes not their usual color, but rather yellow, and signs of Shukaku wanting out of the boy.

"_**I will**_ not be _denied _**my right** to exist. _**I will**_ kill _**you**_!" said Gaara, but was stabbed in his shoulder, and couldn't hold back the cry of pain that left his mouth.

"No you won't. Your time of being psychotic Jinchuriki is over. I will not continue to see one of my brethren act in such manner. Proctor call the match. Now!" said Naruto with Genma nodding since he was told in advance about what would happen when the Suna boy was defeated.

"Winner is Namikaze Naruto!" said Genma, as the medics came to take Gaara away, and Jiraiya was with them to discreetly put special seal tags on the boy to further suppress his demon's power.

'This shouldn't be _possible_! With Gaara defeated the pointy tip of the sword in my plan for destroying Konoha is ruined!' thought Orochimaru while narrowing his eyes at the blonde in the arena.

"Something wrong Kazekage-sama? I know your son lost in the first round, but when you consider just _who_ his opponent was...surely the possibility of Gaara losing was a distinct possibility?" said Tsunade sweetly while Grimmjow just grinned and Tia smirked under her high collared shirt.

"I suppose. Still, I expected Gaara to at least make your Godson go all out, and my anger is aimed more at my son," said the "Kazekage" while trying not to let his anger reveal his true identity.

"I'm sure it is. And I'm also sure it has nothing to do with the impending invasion of our village..._Orochimaru_!" said Tsunade seeing the Sannin's eyes behind the veil that covered his face.

''They know!' thought Orochimaru before unleashing the exploding tag aimed at Tsunade, but Tia had knocked it away, and the explosion following was the signal for the allied forces to engage Konoha's own.

The invasion had begun.

(A/N: YAY! I finally updated. Just took over a year. LOL! Sorry about that. Just a lot of things on my mind and trying to get around certain...holes in the previous chapter. Wasn't easy let me tell you. Also, the voting on my poll just kept bigger, and bigger with each passing moment. I was curious just how many people would vote and for what decision. To be honest, the decision to kill Neji was very much favored at first, and then those that said spare him started to gain momentum. Until next time...PEACE!)


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